FrontierVille Secrets by Tony Sanders is a superb guide for the uninitiated as well as the professional gamer. This book takes the reader step by step to success in the game of building up the best frontier town in cyberspace.
In today’s social networking circles, Facebook has become a by-word and those hooked on Facebook, cannot help being drawn towards the various games and applications that the site hosts. FrontierVille is the lastest offering of Zynga games which combines farming from Farmville, managing energy from Treasure Isle, completing collections like Mafia Wars besides a host of new acitivites like building new buildings, raising animals, completing quests and much more. If you have played any of these games mentioned here, then you will alerady know the excitement associated with them. Frontier Ville promises all that and much more. However, if you want to jumpstart FrontierVille and really get going, then this guide is a valuable partner.
The book is written in an easy to read print and the chapters are well laid out from the Game Basics to Advanced Tactics. It takes the reader from the User Interface to the Fundamentals of playing the game and then a Walkthrough to get the feel of the game. It also talks about the various Quests and Collections and ends up with Tips and Tricks to get the better of your opponents.
Going through the book, the first thing that strikes you is the use of screen shots to replicate the game scene in the printed format. ‘One visual is worth a thousand words’ is not just a saying, it really brings the game alive in front of your eyes. For the novice, the first screen shot explaining the different elements on the screen and their uses is a bonanza. It reduces searching and trying to figure out for oneself what each icon on the screen is meant for.
The next section on Fundamentals gives you an exhaustive list of activities that you must perform in order to stay on top. From simple ones like Playing Daily and Visiting Neighbours to tabular information about the various types of crops that can be grown or the various types of wood amd material that must be stocked up in advance so that you can go ahead of the competition, this section describes it all. It also provides valuable tips on what you should do to save your energy without resorting to the usual means of refilling with food or horseshoes. “You don’t want to spend horseshoes or a lot of food refilling your energy when you will just get a refill on your energy after you’ve made only 5 experience points. So it’s really a good idea to constantly keep an eye on how much experience you have left to go before you level and use your energy, your horseshoes and your food wisely”. (Pg 13).He sums up the section by saying that ‘organization is key’ to a successful run at FrontierVille.
The Walkthrough is probably the highlight of this book. Much emphasis has been laid to keep thngs simple and encourage even the beginner to make points at the very start. From building the toon character you will be using to play the game to tips and advice on how to farm, gain energy, keep up a cycle of continuous harvesting to maintaining experience and food levels to clearing land and taking up quests is given in great detail. This segment also lists out all the quests that can be undertaken with their description, reward, posting reward, spawned from and leading to which quests is given here. A hint for doing the quest in the most economical way is the key factor of this segment.
The Walkthrough section also has the list of collections that one must make in order to clear the levels faster. This list is useful, in the sense that it will help you to know which items to gather to turn in and some of them are useful for quests as well. This section gives you the collection items, the reward, tips on how to collect these items and which ones to give up or exchange to go up the levels faster. Even experienced players will find this section a ready reckoner in order to overtake their opponents and make the best use of their resources. Tips are provided at the end of each collection so that the player can know what the collection can do for him. “If you know what they do and how they can help you, then you don’t have to worry about turning something in when you really needed it, or losing an energy boost when you already had a full bar” (Pg 79).
The Advanced Tactics Section has tips to really make you get ahead in the game. Tips like having tons of different animals that will help you finish off many quests, or using your neighbours to full advantage to give you free coins, energy and free collection items are valuable in building up your Frontier Ville.
Neighbors are a very important part of Frontier Ville. The book tells you how to utilize and get maximum benefit from them. It also includes links from where you can invite new neighbors and tips and tricks to gain more points from them. Experienced players can also benefit a great deal from this section as tricks like Riding the Wall are explained very well.
Last but not the least is the section called Tips and Tricks. A very methodical and systematic approach is used to gain the maximum leverage from every trick in the book. How to plant in a staggering manner, and what to plant so as to go on building up the stockpile of food, coins and experience, is just one such tip. Players at all levels are sure to benefit from this section which shows how to get ahead without resorting to cheat bots.
The book ends with the list of levels that can be played on Frontier Ville , the experience required to play the level and the refills obtained from each level.so that the player knows what to expect from each level that he plays.
All in all, it is a very well – written book in a lucid and simple style which will appeal to every player on the Facebook circuit interested in making a success of the game of Frontier Ville. Beginners will particularly find it very useful, especially as Frontier Ville is very catchy and fun to play. Keeping the book as a reference handbook will go a long way in helping you master the game of Frontier Ville.
Visit the site: http://www.frontiervsecrets.com.
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