Castleville Guide

CastleVille is another hugely-popular Zynga game on Facebook. It is free to play, with premium currency and purchases making the developers money. It follows a similar theme to Zynga's other 'Ville' games, but with a medieval theme!

As with most Facebook games like this, keeping your Energy levels high, combined with managing resources and spending plenty of time visiting and interacting with your neigbors, are all crucial.

Getting Started

The first thing you will be asked to do is to customize your character. You can choose a male or female protagonist, then click either the Randomize or Customize buttons. The Randomize button is handy if you don't have that much time to invest in making your character look unique. The game will pick a random selection of properties to assign to your character. Click Randomize again if you are not happy with these to get another set. Customize lets you pick a face type, eye and skin color, body type, accessories such as helmets, and finally clothes.

With that done, you will be introduced to a basic tutorial. You need to help the two characters (the Duke and Yvette) fight off the pair of Gloom Rats. Simply click on each one to do this. Yvette will then have a quest for you to build her a house in your new kingdom. Accept, then place her house somewhere in the cleared area. You also need to collect Wood and Stone for it.

Currencies

Gold Coins:

Gold Coins are the primary currency in CastleVille. You can check how many Gold Coins you currently have by glancing in the top left-hand corner of the screen. You can spend Gold Coins on a variety of causes. For example, they can be used to purchase items, buildings and decorations from the Market. You can also buy more land to build on, which is crucial to expand your kingdom. Then there are other, less important uses, such as getting more clothes for your character's appearance. The maxmimum limit of Gold Coins is 5,000,000. If you're getting close to that then congratulations! But you need to spend it!

How to get Gold Coins:

Quests:
The most straightforward way to earn Gold Coins is to complete quests. Quests reward you with an abundance of coins, often with relatively little outlay. In fact, you normally are using Energy in the pursuit of completing quests.

Taxes:
Once you reach a certain level of experience at CastleVille, the tax from buildings may well become your primary method of earning Gold Coins. Buildings earn you a certain rent (which varies depending on the building itself) over a specific time period. The Cottage, for example, which is the most basic residential building, nets you a healthy 150 Coins every 5 Minutes. You can see how investing some Energy and money in building a lot of these could end up providing your with lucrative rewards. See the guide to CastleVille's buildings, below, for more information on the best buildings for collecting taxes.

Crops:
As the guide to Crops outlines below, there is quite a variety to the seeds that you can purchase in CastleVille to provide you with an economic boost on a regular basis. Crops are a great way to earn coins, separate from either of the ways above, because you can specifically buy seeds depending on how long you are likely to be away from the game. Can't play all day? Then buy seeds which take all day before they are ready to harvest! If you are able to sit on CastleVille for most of the day, you can focus on quicker crops. See the guide below for advice on which crops are best.

Animals:
You can earn a moderate amount of Coins for feeding the animals present in your kingdom. Once they reach adulthood, they also reward you with items. See our section below on Animals for more information on this.

Neighbors:
Much like completing tasks in your own kingdom, visiting your Neighbors to help with their daily duties will net you a coin reward. The big plus to this is that you have free Energy to spend while visiting Neighbors. This means that you are effectively getting completely free Coins for performing these tasks.

News Feeds:
Watch out on your News Feed to see what your friends are up to - certain links, if you click on them, will earn you Gold Coins. This is another free way of earning the Coins.

Selling Items:
If you are really hard up and need some Coins, fast, you can always sell items that you have in your inventory.

Buy Coins:
Finally, you can purchase Coins using real money - with all the ways above to help you get them, however, why bother!

Crowns:

Crowns are the premium currency in CastleVille. That means that you generally have to purchase them using real money. There are a couple of other ways to get them, which you can find out about below. In terms of what you actually do with Crowns, you can use them to advance yourself in the game far quicker than through standard means - for example you can skip through the quests requirements, rush resources, collections and crafting instantly, as well as purchase Energy potions. They are also required to purchase certain buildings and the more flashy items in the game.

How to get Crowns:

Buy Them:
We'll say this first as it is the method of getting Crowns that Zynga intend most people to use. You can buy them using real money, if you have it to spare.

Level Up:
Leveling up is the key way to get free Crowns. Every time you level up, Zynga generously rewards you with 1 Crown. This is unlike most Facebook games where you very rarely get premium currency through basic gameplay.

Earn Them:
As with other games of this type, you can earn the premium currecy by completing surveys and fulfilling offers when they are given to you. Keep an eye out for the 'Earn Crowns' tab at the top of the screen. Click on it to be presented with all the available offers for earning you Crowns. The reason this option is offered to you is that the developers get commision every time someone completes one of the surveys or offers, so they are still earning healthily from your Crowns!

Save Them:
You begin the game with a few Crowns. Save them for when you need them most if you want to avoid having to get your cash out early on.

Cheat:
There are no cheats available for CastleVille. If you are presented with the possibility of giving your Facebook account details in return for Crowns, don't do it as there are people trying to scam you. Also, don't download any programs to try to alter your game in any way - the majority of these result in your account being hacked. Even if it isn't, you leave yourself open for your account being banned or suspended.

Castle Points:

Castle Points are not really a currency, but they are important for advancing your kingdom and measuring your progress against your friends'.

How to get Castle Points:

These are earnt through building certain 'Royal' Buildings. These include items such as towers, cathedrals and decorational items such as fountains. You can actually see a list of buildings that give you Castle Points in the Buildings section of this guide.

It may seem like Castle Points are not having any effect on your kingdom, and so you may be prioritizing some of the more functional buildings in the game over these largely-decorational structures. While it is true that you may not find them as instantly useful as certain other buildings, collecting a supply of Castle Points is essential if you ever want to expand your kingdom. Bear in mind also that certain buildings later in the game require Castle Points before they become unlocked.

When building Royal structures, you will often also need to recruit a Crew. This involves inviting some of your Neighbors and Friends to joing the Crew - you can do this by clicking on the building once you have placed it in your kingdom. You can also recruit the Duke to help you, but he needs Crowns to help you, whereas Friends can help you for free, and more frequently. Only when a Royal Building has been fully crewed can you collect Coins from it.

Energy

Energy is vital in CastleVille, primarily for completing tasks, such as building, or collecting taxes. Energy recharges automatically over time, to a maximum position of 25. You earn 1 Energy for free every 5 minutes, but if you want to get it quicker, there are a few techniques for doing so:

How to get Energy:

Play the game: You have a chance of earning 1 Energy every time you click to perform an action in CastleVille. Obviously, because each action costs 1 Energy to perform in the first place, this effectively only cancels out that initial Energy cost. It's still nice to get though.

Level Up:

Whenever you level up you receive a total refill of all your Energy stocks. Because of this, it is a good tactic to use up all your Energy just before leveling up so as not to waste any of this generous reward.

Defeat Enemies:

If you defeat Gloom Beasties, you have a chance of earning 2 Energy each time, while the action of fighting them also gives 1 Energy out occasionally.

Cook Food:

You can get Energy by cooking Food in your kitchen.

Post and Read Energy Requests:

Keep an eye out for a notification allowing you to post Energy requests to you Wall. This will prompt friends to gift Energy to you, which can be crucial in keeping your supplies high. Similarly, if you click on other people's Energy requests, you in return get an Energy boost.

Help Neighbors:

Every action you perform in your Neighbors' kingdoms has a chance of rewarding you with Energy. Once you collect a certain amount, however, you hit a limit and can only receive coin.

Neighbors Killing Beasties:

It is a good tactic to let beasties roam around your kingdom until a Neighbor comes in and defeats them for you - you can then collect the Energy reward that this normally gives, without the Energy outlay of having attacked them yourself. With enough friends this can be a really good tactic.

Buy Energy:

You are able to purchase Energy using Crown, or basically through spending real money. If you're very desperate for it then it's not a bad idea, but you should be able to get it for free easily enough using the tips above.

Leveling Up

Leveling up is the way to progress in CastleVille. Almost everything you do earns you XP - this is stored and counted up. When you reach certain totals, you are awarded a new level. Below is a guide to progressing as quickly and efficiently as possible through these levels:

How to Level Up:

The best way to level up is to complete quests. This is designed deliberately to get players involved in the main storyline to CastleVille. Each quest that you complete will earn you the highest amount of points. Otherwise, you receive 1 XP for every action that you perform. Clearly this is vastly inferior to the wealth of XP awarded upon the completion of some of the game's NPC-issued quests. Bearing this in mind, you should save up your Energy and only spend to complete quest objectives - that is from a purely economical Energy for reward perspective.

Your Energy reserves are topped up by 1 point every 5 minutes, to a maximum of 25. With this in mind, you should aim to visit the game every 2 hours, as much as possible. This will mean that your Energy does not reach maximum level where it can no longer recharge for free - thus you will not be wasting any resources. You should also make good use of your neighbors. They can complete a large number of the tasks in your kingdom that ordinarily would require you to use up Energy. Do not waste your own Energy on tasks that your neighbors could potentially perform for you.

Another method for conserving Energy is to make sure you craft the best tools available to you. This will mean for items such as axes to chop wood, you will not have to use as much Energy when clearing woodland, for example. Use the Super Clobber that you can buy in the store with Reputation Points to fight enemies too. It will take considerably less energy to dispatch a Beastie using the Super Clobber than if you try to make do. You also frequently get Energy drops from Beasties, giving you effectively free XP.

You can also buy your way to new levels. Pay to complete quests, advance resource collection and buy Energy to give yourself an extra boost over your friends. Staying on the Energy theme, be sure to use the recipe guide above and cook as many Energy-rich foods as possible. This is a great way to give your kingdom a free boost with the amount of extra tasks you will be able to perform. You can also try pillaging your neighbors. Take their resources of Stone and Wood, and use them to construct your own buildings.

Resources

Wood:
Wood can be collected from cutting down trees. Simply click on a tree to begin chopping. This takes 1 Energy per piece of Wood collected.

Stone:
Stone can be collected from quarrying rocks. Simply click on a stone to begin quarrying. This takes 1 Energy per piece of Stone collected.

Ore:
Ore is gathered from Mining Camps.

There are many other resources too, but the three above are the main ones for building and making your way through the game.

Tip: You should build your Mining Camps and Lumber Mills as close as possible to the resources in question. The closer to the resource, the more quickly you will be able to collect from them each time. Bear in mind that you can move any item in your kingdom using the Move Tool, to make things more efficient.

Animals:
Animals form an important part of the infrastructure in CastleVille. They come in handy for crafting and cooking in particular. The table below shows you how much money is required to purchase the animal and for it to mature, as well as the resources and rewards that they can provide you with.

Chicken: Level 2, Takes    10 Minutes to feed,    6 Feeds to become a Youth, 6 more Feeds to become an Adult,    Total of 2 Hours to Adulthood, Costs 250 Coins, Gives Eggs and Chicken Meat.
Cow: Level 3, Takes 30 Minutes to feed,    8 Feeds to become a Youth, 8 more Feeds to become an Adult, Total of 8 Hours to Adulthood, Costs 750 Coins, Gives Milk and Cow Hide.   
Sheep: Level 7, Takes 1 Hour to feed, 8 Feeds to become a Youth, 8 more Feeds to become an Adult, Total of  16 Hours to Adulthood, Costs 1000 Coins, Gives Wool.
Peacock: Level 11, Takes 2 Hours to feed,  8 Feeds to become a Youth, 8    more Feeds to become an Adult, Total of 1 Day and 8 hours to Adulthood, Costs 1500 Coins, Gives Red Feather and Blue Feather
Goose: Level 15, Takes 6 Hours to feed,  14 Feeds to be come a Youth, 14 more Feeds to become an Adult, Total of 7 Days to Adulthood, Costs 2500 Coins, Gives Down Feather.       
Pig: Level 19, Takes 3 Hours to feed, 14 Feeds to become a Youth, 14 more Feeds to become an Adult, Total of 3.5 Days to Adulthood, Gives Meat.       
Mink: Level 23, Takes 12 Hours to feed, 12 Feeds to become a Youth, 12 more Feeds to become an Adult, Total of 12 Days to Adulthood, Costs 3000 Coins, Gives Mink Oil.       

Market

The Market icon is in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, indicated by the pile of fruit and coins. Click on it to have a whole cacophony of options at your disposal:

Buildings - The buildings section allows you to place resource-gathering structures across your kingdom, and there are lots at your disposal. See a full list below (not including any limited-time promotional items):

Workshop:
Used to craft building materials and tools

Logging Camp:
Gathers Wood [Level 3 | 1 Crown]

Maiden's Towers:
These house princesses! - pays out 550 Gold Coins and adds 80 Castle Points [Level 3 | 4 Crowns]

Cottage:
Produces 150 Gold Coins from taxes [Level 4 | 2 Crowns]

Kitchen:
Produces Energy-giving items [Level 5 | 3 Crowns]

Barracks:
Houses the kingdom's soldiers - pays out 750 Gold Coins and adds 110 Castle Points [Level 6 | 10 Crowns]

Pavilion:
The place for parties and party rewards [Level 6 | 4 Crowns]

Royal Fountain:
A decoration requiring 5 Allies to unlock - pays out 2,300 Gold Coins and adds 270 Castle Points [Level 6 | 79 Crowns | 5 Allies]

Storage Cellar:
Here you can store any unnecessary items that may still be useful in the future [Level 6 | 10 Crowns]

Beastie Laboratory:
This allows you to craft items from Beastie components [Level 7]

Guard Tower:
Keep watch over the far reaches of your kingdom - pays out 550 Coins and 90 Castle Points [Level 7 | 10 Crowns]

Blacksmith:
Gives you even more Forging recipes and supplies Nails [Level 8 | 6 Crowns]

Mining Camp:
Supplies Stone [Level 8 | 6 Crowns]

Chateau:
Produces 600 Gold Coins from taxes [Level 9 | 7 Crowns]

Valut:
A place to keep all your cash! - pays out 1050 Gold Coins and 150 Castle Points [Level 9 | 16 Crowns]

Glassblower:
Gives new artistry supplies and Glass [Level 10 | 8 Crowns]

Smelter:
Gives new Forging recipes and supllies Ore [Level 10 | 8 Crowns]

Studio:
Provides new decorations and costumes [Level 10 | 8 Crowns]

Mill:
Gives new Cooking recipes and supplies Flour [Level 11 | 9 Crowns]

Tailor:
Gives new Artistry recipes and supplies Cotton Cloth [Level 12 | 10 Crowns]

Throne Room:
The center of your kingdom - pays out 1,650 Gold Coins and 190 Castle Points [Level 12 | 22 Crowns]

Regal Kennel:
Somewhere to keep your royal hounds [Level 13 | 15 Crowns]

Royal Spa:
A place for royalty to relax - pays out 2,150 Gold Coins and 250 Castle Points [Level 14 | 26 Crowns]

Villa:
Produces 400 Gold Coins from taxes [Level 14 | 12 Crowns]

Fishery:
Supplies Fish [Level 15 | 13 Crowns]

Library:
A place to read! - pays out 1,800 Gold Coins and 220 Castle Points [Level 15 | 28 Crowns]

Royal Chateau:
Another place for royalty to spend some time - pays out 2,500 Gold Coins and 250 Castle Points [Level 16 | 44 Crowns]

Royal Manor:
Yet another place for you to live - pays out 2,500 Gold Coins and 250 Castle Points [Level 16 | 44 Crowns]

Royal Bell Tower:
A royal decorational building - pays out 1,900 Gold Coins and 280 Castle Points [Level 17 | 44 Crowns]

Castle Dungeon:
Keep prisoners in here - pays out 2,250 Gold Coins and 260 Castle Points [Level 18 | 34 Crowns]

Quarry:
Provides new Forging Recipes and supplies Stone Blocks [Level 18 | 16 Crowns]

Clock Tower:
So you can tell the time - pays out 500 Gold Coins and 290 Castle Points [Level 19 | 36 Crowns]

Farmhouse:
Produces 250 Gold Coins from taxes [Level 19 | 17 Crowns]

Bakery:
Gives new Cooking recipes and supplies Bread Dough [Level 21 | 19 Crowns]

Clockmaker:
Gives new Artistry recipes and supplies Cogs [Level 21 | 19 Crowns]

Jeweler's Shoppe:
Gives new Artistry recipes and supplies Diamonds! [Level 21 | 19 Crowns]

Wizard's Keep:
A place for Wizards to stay - pays out 3,000 Gold Coins and 300 Castle Points [Level 21 | 40 Crowns]

Conservatory:
Like having the outdoors, indoors - pays out 2,800 Gold Coins and 330 Castle Points [Level 22 | 42 Crowns]

Manor:
Produces 1,000 Gold Coins from taxes [Level 24 | 22 Crowns]

Opera House:
A place for some culture - pays out 3,150 Gold Coins and 340 Castle Points [Level 24 | 46 Crowns]

Butcher:
Gives new Cooking recipes and supplies Meat [Level 26 | 24 Crowns]

Royal Garden:
A beautiful, natural environment to enjoy - pays out 3,050 Gold Coins and 440 Castle Points [Level 27 | 52 Crowns]

Cathedral:
The heart of your kingdom's religion - pays out 3,250 Gold Coins and 390 Castle Points [Level 27 | 52 Crowns]

Armory:
Gives new Forging recipes and supplies Hammers [Level 28 | 26 Crowns]

Observatory:
Do some stargazing - pays out 3,550 Gold Coins and 450 Castle Points [Level 30 | 58 Crowns]

Pixie Den:
Produces 600 Gold Coins from taxes (those rich pixies!) [Level 42 | 40 Crowns]

Fairy Hideaway:
Produces 1,000 Gold Coins from taxes (those rich fairies!) [Level 45 | 43 Crowns]

Pumpkin Villa:
Produces 1,500 Gold Coins from taxes [Level 48 | 46 Crowns]

Recipes

Use the list below to see what is best to focus on cooking, with rewards stated to show you where you can get the most benefit:

Note: This does not include all recipes, as some are quest-related and the game is also being regularly updated - it should have the main ones to get you started in the kitchen though!

Animal Treats:
These take 2 Hours and require 10 Oats and 1 Flour Sack, as well as the Mill. Once you consume it, you are able to feed Animal 60 minutes faster.

Bag of Popcorn:
To produce this, 1 Hour    is needed, as well as 5 Corn, 2 Sticks of Butter and 1 Flaxseed Oil. If you eat the bag of popcorn, you will receive 1 XP.

Bread Dough:
This takes    1.5 Hours and also requires 1 Stick of Butter, 2 Eggs and 2 Milk Bottles. You will also need a Mill to be able to produce it. You can use the Dough for crafting Bread.

Bubbly Grog:
To cook this you will need 13 Minutes, 5 Pails of Water and 5 Ogre's Belches. You can use the Grog to Unwither your Crops.

Cake:
This tasty treat requires 13 Hours to cook, as well as 4 Flour Sacks, 3 Sticks of Butter, 2 Eggs, 2 Honey, a Mill and a Bakery. You need it to make other varieties of Cake.

Carrot Cake:
A lot of time is needed for this one, as it takes 29 Hours to cook. You also need 2 Cakes, 20 Carrots, a Mill and a Bakery. Eat this Cake to receive 10 Energy.

Castleberry Punch:
You will need 1 Hour for this, along with 10 Berries, 10 Honey,    4 Pails of Water and 3 Spicy Cloves. Use it to advance the Pond so it is ready to Fish.

Chicken Pot Pie:
This takes 3.5 Hours, 1 Bread Dough, 1 Chicken Meat and 10 Potatos to produce. You also need a Butchers. It produces a pie that you can eat for 4 Energy.

Chicken and Corn Chili:   
3 Hours are needed to produce this, and 8 Corn, 2 Chicken Meat, 3 Chili Peppers and 5 Tomatos. Eat it to receive 5 Energy.

Chocolate Bar:
This requires 1.5 Hours, as well as 5 Coco, 1 Stick of Butter, 4 Milk Bottles and a Mill. Eat the result for 3 XP.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries:
These take 13 Hours and need 15 Strawberries, 4 Chocolate Bars and a Bakery - you will end up with an edible treat to give you 6 Energy.

Corn Dog:
To produce this you need 2 Hours, 5 Piles of Corn Meal, 1 Spicy Sausage, 2 Milk Bottles and 1 Wood Log. Eat it for 6 Energy.

Cornbread Muffin:
Cook this for 4 Hours using 2 Piles of Corn Meal, 1 Flour Sack, 1 Stick of Butter    and 2 Eggs. It gives 4 Energy when eaten.

Fertilizer:
This crucial item requires 10 Hours    to make. You will need 3 Animal Bones, 2 Hardboiled Eggs and 1 Alchemist Powder. It advances the growth of your Crops by 60 minutes.

Flaming Grog:
After 1 Hour's cooking, using 7 Pails of Water, 7 Ogre's Belch and 7 Chili Peppers, you will be able to use this to 'Unwither' your withered Crops.

Flaxseed Oil:
This needs 5 Minutes and is created using 2 Flax. It has a variety of uses in Crafting and Cooking.

Flour Sack:
This is another important ingredient in many other baking recipes. It can be quickly produced in just 14 Minutes, and requires 4 Bundles of Wheat and 3 Reputation Points. You will also need a Mill.

Fried Fish:   
After 8 Hours, and using 4 Bass, 4 Flaxseed Oil and    2 Flour Sacks, as well as a    Mill and a Fishery, you will have produced this dish which can be eaten for 5 Energy.

Grape Juice:
To be able to drink this you will need to allow 1.5 Hours creation time, as well as providing 10 Grapes and 5 Pails of Water. Drink it for 3 Energy.

Grindstone:
Allow 2 Hours to prepare this, which also needs    5 Stone and    5 Reputation Points. It is an important tool for grinding things.

Hard Boiled Eggs:
This needs 1.5 Hours time, 10 Eggs and 5 Pails of Water. Eat them for 3 Energy.

Hot Buns:
This takes 2 Hours to bake, and the ingredients are 1 Bread Dough and 1 Stick of Butter. You also need a Mill and a Bakery for it.

Ice Cream:
2.5 Hours is needed for this, along with 5 Ice Chunks, 5 Milk, 2 Honey and 5 Reputation Points.

Ice Cream Cone:
You need 45 Minutes    to produce this, as well as 2 Ice Cream, and 5 Strawberries. Eat this to get 5 Energy.

Ice Cream Sandwich:
This takes 3 Hours, 4 Ice Creams, 2 Bread Doughs and 10 Cocoa. Eat this for a handy 10 Energy.

Hyper Craft:
A whopping 26 Hours is needed for this, along with 1 Ruby, 10 Ogre's Belches, 3 Hammers and 5 Alchemist Powders. It allows you to advance crafting time by 30 minutes.

Kettle Corn:
Taking 4 Hours, 6 Ears of Corn, 6 Honey, 1 Butter and 1 Flaxseed Oil, you can then eat this for 3 Energy.

Meat Sandwich:
A long 17 Hours is needed for this. You will also have to provide 4 Hot Buns, 12 Meat, 3 Cabbage, 3 Tomato and have a Butchers and a Bakery. It will reward you with 7 Energy when eaten.

Pile of Corn Meal:
Produce this after 5 Minutes by giving 5 Ears of Corn and 1 Flour Sack. You will then be able to use it to produce a variety of other items.

Pizza:
You need 13 Hours, 1 Bread Dough, 5 Tomatos, 15 Pieces of Meat and a    Mill. Some delicious Pizza will give you 8 XP when eaten.

Plate of Spaghetti:
After 2 Hours cooking time, along with 10 Wheat, 3 Flaxseed Oil and    7 Tomatos, you can eat this for 3 Energy.

Saucy Tart:
This requires 1 Hour, 1 Stick of Butter, 3 Hard Boiled Eggs, 1 Sugar and 1 Apple Slice. Eat it to receive 1 Energy.

Spicy Sausage:
You will need 10 Hours to cook this. The ingredients are    15 Meat and 10 Chili Peppers, and a Butchers to produce it. Eat it for 7 XP.

Stick of Butter:
A quick 5 Minutes is all that's required for this, along with 5 Milk in the ingredients department.

Tomato Bisque Soup:
You have to allow 8 Hours to create this, and it needs 20 Tomatos, 10 Milk and 3 Butter. It gives you 5 Energy when you eat it.

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Crafting

Crafting is required to produce certain items - most notably Wood Planks and Stone Blocks for building, and Exploration Crystals, for expanding your kingdom. There is no way you can progress in CastleVille without a good Crafting infrastructure.

Workshop:

The first Crafting building that you can construct is the Workshop. Below is a list of all the items that you can build in it, and the requirements and results of doing so:

Angle Finder:
Requires 2 Iron Bars, 1 Fastener and 15 Alchemist Powders. It takes 44 hours to complete and requires a Quarry.

Anvil:
Requires 5 Stone Blocks and 5 Alchemist Powders. It takes 9 hours to complete.

Bag of Nails:
Requires 1 Iron Bar, 1 Leather and 10 Reputation Points. It takes 18 hours to complete and requires a Blacksmith.
 
Boom Stick:
Requires 3 Fire Runes, 3 Cotton Threads and 5 Alchemist Powders. It takes 9 hours to complete.

Brick Oven:
Requires 2 Stone Blocks, 2 Wooden Planks and 5 Reputation Points. It takes 3 hours to complete.

Collection Box:
Requires 1 Alchemist Powder, 1 Wooden Plank and 1 Shell. It takes 3 hours to complete.

Energy Totem:
Requires 40 Stone Blocks, 30 Gold Bricks, 15 Fairy Dusts and 10 Iron Picks. It takes 46.7 hours to complete!

Epic Ice Pick:
Requires 2 Master Ice Picks, 2 Silver Ore, 15 Unicorn Sparkles and 15 Ice Chunks. It takes 4 hours to complete.

Exploration Crystal:
Requires 3 Crystal Shards and takes 1.5 hours to complete.    

Fishing Bait:
Requires 1 Gloom Rat Tail, 3 Honey and 1 Alchemist Powder. It takes 14 minutes to complete.

Gloom Goblin Potion:
Requires 1 Gloom Goblin Ear, 7 Wool Threads, 5 Wood Logs and 6 Alchemist Powder. It takes 12 hours to complete and requires the Kitchen Studio.

Gloom Rat Potion:
Requires 1 Gloom Rat Tail, 2 Milk Bottles, 3 Shells and 1 Alchemist Powder. It takes 2.5 hours to complete and also requires a Kitchen.

Gold Brick:
Requires 2 Stone Blocks and 4 Alchemist Powders. It takes 1.5 hours to complete.

Hammer:
Requires 2 Wood Logs, 2 Stone Blocks and 3 Reputation. It takes 2 hours to complete and also requires a Blacksmith.

Horseshoe:
Requires 1 Iron Bar and 1 Hammer. It takes 12 hours to complete and also requires a Quarry and a Blacksmith.

Hyper Craft:
Requires 1 Ruby, 5 Ogre's Belches, 1 Hammer and 1 Alchemist Powder. It takes 14 hours to complete.

Ice Pick:
Requires 7 Wood Logs, 2 Stone Blocks and 5 Ice Chunks. It takes 1 hour to complete.

Icy Torch:
Requires 1 Iron Bar, 5 Wood Logs, 3 Fire Runes and 1 Ice Chunk. It takes 9 hours to complete.

Iron Axe:
Requires 2 Iron Bars and 1 Grindstone. It takes 13 hours to complete.

Iron Bar:
Requires 3 Wood Logs and 2 Iron Ore. It takes 9 hours to complete and also requires a Blacksmith.

Iron Pick:
Requires 4 Wood Logs and 1 Iron Bar. It takes 18 hours to complete and also requires a Blacksmith.

Keg:
Requires 2 Iron Bars, 3 Wood Planks and 3 Alchemist Powder. It takes 22 hours to complete.

Knife:
Requires 1 Iron Bar and 4 Wood Logs. It takes 9 Hours to complete. It also requires a Blacksmith.

Master Ice Pick:
Requires 1 Ice Pick, 2 Iron Ore, 5 All Purpose Polish and 10 Ice Chunks. It takes 2 hours to complete.

Punch Prep Table:
Requires 4 Wood Planks, 5 Punch Jugs and 4 Stone Blocks. It takes 1 hour to complete.

Rope:
Requires 5 Flax and takes 5 minutes to complete.

Stone Block:
Requires 6 Stone and takes 1 hour to complete.

Super Chop:
Requires 1 Iron Axe and 3 Alchemist Powder. It takes 8 hours to complete.

Super Clobber:
Requires 1 Alchemist Powder and 2 Wood Clubs. It takes 2 hours to complete.

Sword:
Requires 1 Iron Bar and 1 Alchemist Powder. It takes 9 hours to complete. It also requires a Blacksmith.

Wood Club:
Requires 5 Wood and 1 Alchemist Powder. It takes 10 minutes to complete.

Wood Fence:
Requires 2 Wood and takes 5 minutes to complete.

Wood Plank:
Requires 6 Wood and takes 1 hour to complete.

Work Bench:
Requires 3 Wood Planks and 2 Bags of Nails. It takes 24 hours to complete. It also requires a Logging Camp.

Neighbors

Getting help from your Neighbors and visiting them is an important facet of CastleVille. There are a variety of tasks that you can perform in their kingdoms (and that Neighbors can perform in yours). You are able to perform 5 Neighbor actions in one day. If you do all 5, you will receive a bonus of 25 coins. You can also receive Energy and Alchemist Powder in limited supplies when The most important of these are listed and described below:

When in your Neighbor's kingdom you are able to collect resources when they are ready, and taxes from their houses. Taxable houses in your Neighbors' kingdoms will reward you with 10% of the regular tax. Focus on the highest paying houses, such as Caravans and NPC Caravans, to reap the greatest rewards. Similarly, Royal Buildings will give you a variety of rewards that don't quite tally up with those of your own kingdom. They are one of the best things to attend in neighboring kingdoms, however.

Interacting with animals in the Neighbor's kingdom will give you a few coins and also speed up the animal process for your Neighbor by 10%. You can also use a Neighbor's Pond is one of the most effective tasks you can perform when visiting foreign kingdoms. This will give you all the rewards associated with the Pond, such as Sand, Shell, Bass and Water Pails. Flowers work in much the same way as the Pond - you can collect Beeswax and Honey from them. You can also tend to Roots, Ferns and Mushrooms to get Ogre's Belch and occasionally Berries.

If all that's not enough, chopping down Trees will give you the same reward as in your own kingdom - one or two wooden logs. Bear in mind that it is probably more effective to request these from friends as gifts. The same applies to mining Stone and Ores. You can collect these resources but you may find it easier to simply request them from friends rather than using your Energy up in this way.

You can also harvest your Neighbor's crops and defeat their Gloom Beasties in return for a small monetary reward.

It is a help to your Neighbors if you accelerate their farms and buildings. You can accelerate them by 10%, and this also rewards you with some coins.

Neighbors' Help:

Your Neighbors are also able to help (and hinder) your kingdom, with some tips on this below:

The first thing to bear in mind is that you can setup your kingdom so that you have to approve all Neighbor actions before they can take place. This prevents people from being able to destroy all your hard work with mischievous actions. However, once your kingdom gets to a certain size, this becomes very difficult to maintain.

It is a good idea to place signposts near items that you do not want your Neighbors interacting with. You may have systems in place that you do not want to be interrupted by them, for example.

Reputation:

Reputation is required for the purchase of certain buildings and items. Reputation itself is represented in CastleVille as a brightly-colored heart. The primary way to earn Reputation is to help your neighbors with completing tasks and interacting with objects in their own kingdoms.

Crop Guide

Below is a guide to some of the crops that you can grow in CastleVille. Growing and harvesting crops is a crucial part of the game as they can be used to generate Coins, and in crafting recipes to give you Energy boosts. Below is a table with the Level required to unlock the crop, the time required to grow them, the initial cost to plant them, and the reward and profits for doing so.

Grape:
Level 1, Takes 5 Minutes, Costs 5 Coins, Rewards 50 Coins. Profit is 45 Coins per Energy and 540 Coins per hour.

Flax:
Level 3, Takes 30 Minutes, Costs 25 Coins, Rewards 100 Coins. Profit is 75 Coins per Energy and 145 Coins per hour.   

Carrot:   
Level 4, Takes 1 Hour, Costs 50 Coins, Rewards 150 Coins. Profit is  100 Coins per Energy and 100 Coins per hour.   

Wheat:
Level 5, Takes 24 Hours, Costs 100 Coins, Rewards 550 Coins. Profit is 450 Coins per Energy and 18.75 Coins per hour.
       
Tomato:
Level 8, Takes 8 Hours, Costs 150 Coins, Rewards 400 Coins. Profit is 250 Coins per Energy and 31.25 Coins per hour.
   
Cabbage:
Level 10, Takes 12 Hours, Costs 200 Coins, Rewards 500 Coins. Profit is 300 Coins per Energy and 25 Coins per hour.   

Cotton:
Level 12, Takes 14 Hours, Costs 250    Coins, Rewards 600 Coins. Profit is 350 Coins per Energy and 25 Coins per hour.   

Cocoa:
Level 14, Takes 16 Hours, Costs 300 Coins, Rewards 700 Coins. Profit is 400 Coins per Energy and 25    Coins per hour.

Oat:
Level 16, Takes 3 Hours, Costs 75 Coins, Rewards 225 Coins. Profit is 150 Coins per Energy and 50 Coins per hour.   
Chili Pepper: Level 18, Takes 18 Hours, Costs 350 Coins, Rewards 800 Coins. Profit is 450 Coins per Energy and 25 Coins per hour.   

Potato:
Level 20, Takes 4 Hours, Costs 400 Coins, Rewards 600 Coins. Profit is 200 Coins per Energy and 50 Coins per hour.   

Strawberry:
Level 22, Takes 36 Hours, Costs 500 Coins, Rewards 1000 Coins. Profit is 500 Coins per Energy and 13.88 Coins per hour.     

The Best Crops:

As you may have worked out, the best crop when looking at the numbers varies depending on how much time you have to monitor your game. If you only have a short amount of time, you should look to grow Flax or Grapes. Flax is useful for cooking and crafting. A good medium term crop is Potato, as it rewards you with 50 Coins every hour, and lasts 4 hours before you harvest it. Chili or Cocoa are the best long-term crops. These generate 25 Coins per hour and both have generous harvesting time frames. Cocoa can be used in recipes to give you back some Energy. Generally, Wheat is the best all-round crop due to its vast range of usefulness in crafting and cooking recipes. It will depend on the needs of your particular kingdom to find out what works best for you, however.

Tip: The closer you plant your crops to a water source, the more quickly they ripen. If you have the space, you should always organise your crops as near as possible to water. Water can be anything from a pond, to a lake, even to a Well. Bear in mind that you can move any item in your kingdom using the Move Tool, to make things more efficient.

Gloom Beasties

Gloom Beasties are the troublemakers of CastleVille. Unlike normal enemies in games such as this, their real weapon is that they suspend any actions that you may try to initiate in a radius around them. It is difficult to predict when Gloom Beasties will appear - this happens depending on actions that you have performed previously.

Note that the number of Gloom Beasts in your kingdom at any one time is limited. This limit increases depending on your level.

A clever tactic for dealing with Gloom Beasts is to encourage them into a small and safe part of your kingdom, where you do not perform many actions. If you keep them there and reach the maximum limit for Beasts, then no new ones will appear in more important areas of your kingdom.

Below is a brief guide to the Gloom Beasts, including what actions trigger their spawning - this will allow you to perform the trick above more easily:

Gloom Rat:
The Gloom Rat is summoned by harvesting a Farm. You can also produce it with a potion costing 5 Reputation Points. It has 3 Health, and rewards you with a Gloom Rat Tail, Bone and between 1 and 2 Energy when you defeat it.

Gloom Wolf:
This appears when you tend to an animal or chop trees. Its potion costs 8 Reputation and the Wolf has 5 Health Points. It gives    you Gloom Wolf Hair and Bone when you defeat it, as well as between 2 and 3 Energy.

Gloom Thief:
When you tax a house, normally above 600 Coins, a Gloom Thief may appear. To use its potion requires 10 Reputation Points. It has 8 Health Points. It gives you the Thief's Cloak, and 2-3 Energy on defeat.

Gloom Goblin:
The Gloom Goblin can only be summoned with a Potion costing 12 Reputation Points. It has 9 Health before it can be defeated - at which point you will receive a Gloom Goblin Ear, and 2-3 Energy.

Follow this guide to summon Beasts and keep them in an unimportant corner of your kingdom. Purchase a Super Clobber from the Market using Reputation Points to make it far easier to deal with Beasties - this will save you Energy and generally make everything much easier.

Kingdom Expansion

When you first start playing CastleVille, you will notice a grayed-out area, covered in 'Gloom'. There are 108 squares in the game, and you start with a meagre 6. Each one has different requirements before you are able to purchase them to expand your kingdom.

The key pre-requisite is to have enough Castle Points. As explained earlier, these are earned by building enough Royal Buildings. You are not even able to see the other requirements to puchase the plot of land until you reach the Castle Point limit. You will then be told the number of Exploration Crystals (these must be crafted from the Crystal Shards that Beasties drop) and Coins you need. Some also need quest completion before the are unlocked.

Tip: The game tries to get you to purchase the cheapest expansion as soon as it is available. This is not the best way to go. Instead, you should save up your resources past the cheapest expansion (as hard as it may be to ignore the allure of more space to build in) until you have access to more lucrative squares. There are squares that you should aim to get to which have grayed-out characters in, waiting for you to save them. If you prioritize these squares, you will advance much quicker than someone who purchase every expansion as soon as it is available. Some squares also have new items, while the characters, once you meet them, give you new quest lines and thus allow you to level up more quickly.