PetVille Game Guide

Zynga, the company behind super smash hits like Cafe World and FarmVille have built a very successful business based on social games on MySpace and Facebook. With some of the most popular applications anywhere on the internet, Facebook recently said FarmVille has more users than Twitter, Zynga can afford to release a new game every month.

The newest addition to the Zynga game collection is PetVille. Following the naming convention of games like YoVille and FishVille, PetVille also follows in the Zynga tradition of borrowing heavily from other popular social games. PetVille is very similar to the very successful game Pet Society. With Zynga's track record it is safe to assume that PetVille will soon be the king of the hill also in this genre.

This game guide explains the basic game play elements of PetVille and how to get started playing the game. It will also cover some good strategies to get your PetVille Pet off to a good start.

The first step when starting your PetVille career is to customize your pet. Zynga has done a great job with this part of the game. Right from the beginning there is a huge selection of different head shapes and facial features, clothes fur colors and even markings. This makes it easy to create a unique looking pet. Of course, no matter what you do your PetVille Pet will end up looking super cute.

Once you have created the perfect pet, the game takes you through a short tutorial. This teaches you the basics of how to feed and wash your pet, and let's you visit your first neighbor. The steps in the tutorial covers the most important ways to make coins in the game.

Feeding your pet is a long term way of making money. When your pet finishes their food you are awarded with coins. The food in PetVille works very similar to crops in FarmVille and dishes in Cafe World. The most expensive food lasts the longest and gives the most coins. Once all the food is gone you have a limited time to cash in your coins before your pet sneaks away with the loot. This is similar to dishes going bad in Cafe World. An additional feature in PetVille that you should be aware of is that if your pet is left without food for too long, it will run away. You will have to pay coins for it to return.

If you have snacks, you can feed those to your pet any time. They will love you for it, and you will get paid a little bit of coins. A true win win situation.

Another good way of making money is to keep your pet clean. Washing your pet, or visiting a neighbor and scrubbing down their filthy mutt is awarded with 4 coins and 2 love points. The best part is that cleaning pets does not require any energy. You wash pets by rubbing the soap bar over them. If you can't see the bar of soap on the floor in your house, you will find it in the storage box.

Just like in real life, your PetVille pet will make a mess. From dirty underwear on the coach to half eaten apples on the mantle piece an unchecked pet will soon have your house infested with flies. The good news is that you get coins and love points for cleaning up the mess. The better news is that your pet comes house broken so their messes are confined to throwing their socks on the floor.

One last way to make coins and also love points is to visit friends. When you visit a friends house you will get the option to perform a series of actions with your friend. From high fives to dancing there are tons of funny animations your pets can do together. The best part is you get paid for having fun. Keep in mind though that every time you play with a neighbor it costs 5 energy points.

Energy is handled differently in PetVille than in most other social games that uses this feature. While normally you are able to replenish your energy by eating or drinking in game items, in PetVille don't have this option. Once you are out of energy, your only option to get it back is to let your pet rest. Right now, your energy level is recharged once a day. In addition to energy, you also have love points. The more love points you score the higher your level. When your level increases you unlock more profitable food to feed your pet and more exclusive items to buy for your home. Buying expensive furniture is one of the most effective way of getting lots of love points quickly.

With these tips you should be able to get a head start in PetVille. The key to success in the game is the same as for all other social games; log in and play regularly.