Survey outlines social game play, spending habits

Surveys of the social gaming landscape are nothing new, but a new survey from Inside Networks shows just how addictive the games can be.

As reported by GamesBeat, the survey found over 90% of the 1,800 interviewed social game players check in on their games at least once a day. Of those, over two-thirds check in on their social gaming multiple times a day, suggesting a deep engagement with the content. Farmville was the most popular daily-check for social gamers, unsurprisingly, but games like Social City, Pet Society and Cafe World also drew high proportions of daily players.

The survey also has some interesting data on the so-called "whales" that spend the most money on social games. While only two percent of survey respondents copped to spending at least $25 on social gaming in a month, the vast majority of those big spenders focused their spending on a single game. This suggests that these players are developing an intense connection with their favorite social game, rather than with social gaming in general. Then again, 0.1% of respondents said they spent $25 or more a month on eight separate social games, proving there are at least a few profligate social gaming generalists out there.

Unsurprisingly, a majority of respondents said they play social games with friends, rather than co-workers, classmates or strangers.

Twilight theme arrive in Cafe World & PetVille -- Is YoVille next?

Zynga updated Cafe World with items from the vampire movie, Twilight. The items that were added are kind of similar to the ones that are usually released on Halloween. They also include decorations like the Twinkling Vampire (Edward) and Transforming Werewolf (Jacob). PetVille players are also expecting a coming soon Twilight theme.

I'm sure you've guessed where this is going. Do you think a Twilight theme is coming soon to YoVille? We're talking about modern houses, werewolves and who knows, maybe fancy cars?

This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.

Cafe World Cuisine Cookbooks 'coming soon'

The Cafe World Cookbook hold the recipes that keep our virtual restaurants in business, but in addition to the fundamental and advanced recipes, there's always been a mysterious 'specialty' recipes as well. I'm still not 100% sure what these recipes will be, but based on what's there so far, it looks like you will also be able to level up your cooking skill by type of cuisine and then unlock bonuses.

cafe world cuisine cookbooks comoing soon
Since my favorite things to cook right now are the pot roast and chicken, looks like I've already managed to reach Level 1 in American style cooking. So much for being adventurous in my virtual kitchen. I'll post more on Cuisine Cookbooks as soon there's more information.

Which type of cuisine do you cook the most in Cafe World?

Cafe World's 1 Year Anniversary Catering Order: Everything you need to know

Cafe World One Year Anniversary Recipes

Zynga's Cafe World is one year old this week and to celebrate (along with a huge sale on Cafe Cash and other items), you'll find five new recipes in your cookbook that are available for one week only. They're essential to finishing the brand new catering order, "One Year Anniversary Party." Complete the order by September 30 to qualify for a chance to win a trip for two to New York City. Join us behind the cut to get all the information you need to complete this daunting order.
Cafe World One Year Catering Order recipes

If you get three stars on the job, you'll get to keep these five limited edition recipes:

    Anniversary Cake: 300 coins, serves 400 in 8 hours, rewards 1200 coins and 127 Cafe Points
    Pastilla: 3,350 coins, serves 800 in 16 hours, rewards 6,400 coins and 367 Cafe Points
    Feijoada: 840 coins, serves 600 in 12 hours, rewards 3,000 coins and 219 Cafe Points
    Shanghai Dumpling: 4,000 coins, serves 1,100 in 22 hours, rewards 7,700 coins and 440 Cafe Points
    Ratatouille: 13,000 coins: serves 1,200 in 24 hours, rewards 19,200 coins and 614 Cafe Points


Cafe World Ratatouille

For this limited time order, you'll also need to provide 15 Balloons and 10 Party Favors, which will run you 40 Cafe Cash total, or about $7 USD with the sale that's going on this week. Let's hope being forced to pay Cafe Cash in order to complete Catering Orders doesn't become a trend. Here's what you'll need to cook up to help Amelia host the best party ever:

    65 Shanghai Dumplings: 22 hours, unlocks for 14 Cafe Cash
    120 Feijoada: 12 hours, unlocks for 12 Cafe Cash
    146 Pastilla: 16 hours, unlocks for 17 Cafe Cash
    1 Anniversary Cake: 8 hours, unlocks for 8 Cafe Cash


Wow, that is a lot of cooking. Honestly, if you want to complete this in time to qualify for that awesome trip to New York, you'll need the 21 friends that this order calls for. Remember, you can queue up all of your dishes across your friends and start the timer on the order just before the first dish completes to save yourself a lot of time. However, if you're shooting for the trip to New York, you'll need to complete the order by September 30 regardless, so this won't help much. If you just want to finish the order within seven days, this strategy will work out just fine. These are the rewards you'll get for completing the order on time:

    In seven days: 7,560 Cafe Points; 113,400 coins
    In 10 days: 5,400 Cafe Points; 81,000 coins
    More than 10 days: 3,200 Cafe Points; 48,600 coins

Cafe World One Year Anniversary Sweepstakes: Win a trip to New York or $1,000 cash

To celebrate dominating our online lives for one whole year, Cafe World is going to rock seven lucky players' worlds with a trip to New York City for two and five prizes to the tune of $1,000 cash in Zynga's Cafe World One Year Anniversary Sweepstakes. To have a chance at the dough, all you need to do is log in for five separate days before September 30 and you'll be entered.

If you want that three-day, two-night trip to New York (that Zynga claims is worth up to $5,000), you'll need to work for it. Complete the new "One Year Anniversary Party" Catering Order by September 30 to be entered for a chance to win. There's only six days left to complete that order, so get to cooking. It's a pretty big order, but don't worry. We have you covered with a full guide.

Check out the official rules over at the Cafe World forums for more information.