The Sims Social: Country meets chic with Country Kitchen items

Is it just me, or is decorating our houses one of the best things to do in the Sims Social? I know I could personally spend plenty of time rearranging furniture in each room, only to ripe it all out and start over again, and to help us do that with even more themes is a new Country Kitchen theme that has launched in the game this week. These country kitchen items bring in all sorts of shades of brown and ivory, and it's one of the most complete themes we've seen released in the game yet. Here's a rundown of what to look out for in the store to make this theme complete in your own home.

Plate Collection

    Costs: 4 SimCash
    Value: $600


Perfecto Fruitbowl

    Costs: 4 SimCash
    Value $600


Vintage Wines

    Costs: 6 SimCash
    Value: $900


RuralU Deluxe C (Kitchen Counter Piece)

    Costs: 10 SimCash
    Value: $1500


RuralU Deluxe (Kitchen Counter Piece)

    Costs: 12 SimCash
    Value: $1750


Antiquitate Deco (Wall Sconce)

    Costs: 3 SimCash
    Value: $450


19th Century Lamp

    Costs: 10 SimCash
    Value: $1500


19th Century Pot (Flowers)

    Costs: 19 SimCash
    Value: $2800


Antiquitate Oil

    Costs: 325 Social Points
    Value: $700


Basinuate Marble (Sink)

    Costs: 12 SimCash
    Value: 1750
    Clean Stat: 5



FrancoFaux Chaise (Buildable item)

    Costs: 225 Social Points
    Value: $500


Cereal Shelf

    Costs: 250 Social Points
    Value: $550


19th Century Mat

    Costs: 19 SimCash
    Value: $2800


Clox Fruitful

    Costs: 350 Social Points
    Value: $800


RuralU Trove (Wall Cabinet Piece)

    Costs: 600 Social Points
    Value: $1450


RuralU Charm (Wall Cabinet Piece)

    Costs: 800 Social Points
    Value: $2050


FrancoFaux Tableau (Buildable item)

    Costs: 800 Social Points
    Value: $2050


RuralU Latch (Hutch - Buildable item)

    Costs: 1100 Social Points
    Value: $3100


G King Counter (Center Island - Buildable item)

    Costs: 15,000 Social Points
    Value: $21,250
    Happiness Stat: 3


Normanity Chair (Living Room Furniture - Buildable item)

    Costs: 450 Social Points
    Value: $1050


FrancoFaux Cafe (Living Room Furniture - Buildable item)

    Costs: 650 Social Points
    Value: $1600


Normanity Sofa (Living Room Furniture - Buildable item)

    Costs: 700 Social Points
    Value: $1750
    Sleep Stat: 3



In addition to all of these items, there's also a Cooking Skill vent hood called the SuxDelux that's available to users that have reached a Cooking Skill of 40 or higher. This item has a value of $3650.

In the Build Menu, you can also find a selection of new windows in the same matching dark wood color, ranging in price from 750 coins for the RealOak 2 Pane to 6,000 coins for the RealOak 5 Pane. If you want the window in the picture above, with the quaint ivory curtains, that will set you back a whopping 39 SimCash. Along with this, there are five new wallpapers and three new floor tiles to round out the theme.

There's no listed time limit on any of these items, so if you don't have enough Social Points or SimCash available to buy them now, you should be able to save up and purchase them well into the future. Still, if you want to get your hands on these items while they're fresh, I really couldn't blame you. I just hope your kitchen is big enough to hold them all!

[Final Image Credit: Playfish/EA]

What do you think of these Country Kitchen items? Are you more of a modern fan, or do you like country / southwestern items?

Playfish founder: We have redefined social games with The Sims Social

The Sims Social is just an arm's reach from being the number one game on Facebook, so this kind of logic is expected. In an interview with MCV, Playfish founder and co-GM Kristian Segerstrale said, "In bringing one of EA's most popular game franchises to Facebook, Playfish and The Sims team have redefined the meaning of social in video games."

While The Sims Social certainly treads some new ground in how Facebook gamers interact, it's important to remember to chalk up much of the game's runaway success to the brand it's attached to. In just over a month since its release, The Sims Social has skyrocketed to become the second most popular Facebook game to date in both daily and monthly players, AppData reports.

Just last week, EA's (which owns Playfish) proverbial secret weapon ousted Zynga's iconic and ubiquitous FarmVille in daily players, but now the game has even more monthly players than the household name farming simulator with over 43.8 million and counting. The Sims Social has dipped a bit in daily players, but is just about 2.9 million fans away from beating out the might CityVille as the most played Facebook game daily.

"By combining Playfish's expertise and passion for social play with the deep creative heritage of The Sims franchise and the insights of its creators, we feel we've brought something very special to life – and tens of millions of players around the world have responded with extraordinary enthusiasm over the last few weeks," Segerstrale said to MCV.

The founder went on to say that new features to The Sims Social will land in the coming months. And we're sure that if EA wants to host the top Facebook game overall, that those features will have to be even more groundbreaking than before. How's about in-game marriages, eh? (Because we all know how well that's worked elsewhere.)

Have you been a part of The Sims Social craze on Facebook? Do you think it's incredible growth is due to its reportedly groundbreaking social features, or is more thanks to its name (it could always be both)? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment

Sims Social survey lets you sound off on item prices, favorite features and more

It's that time folks - time to let your collective voices be heard! EA wants to know how much fun (or not) you're having with the Sims Social on Facebook, and they've released a fairly long survey to help you tell them. This survey contains all sorts of questions, ranging from the basics of how often you play the game, to allowing you to rate your opinion on item pricing (are they too cheap? too expensive?) and what some of your favorite features are in the game.

Of course, the point of all of this is to gather enough opinions to actually sway the way the game develops in the future. Hopefully, with questions dealing with how much we like to "build" items with parts (bookcases, double beds, etc.), and the option to say that you don't like it at all, we may actually see a lessening in those kinds of items, if enough users agree. You can even rank various gameplay features (decorating your house, visiting friends, customizing your Sim, etc.) in the order that you like them. In this way, perhaps we'll see more focus being placed on the most (overall) liked feature, and you'll be able to say you helped to make that happen.

Unfortunately, this isn't the kind of survey that will allow you to give your opinion on future item sets, but there are plenty of blank text boxes for you to say exactly what you want to the developers in a place that you know they'll see it. Again, this survey is prety lengthy (when compared to other Facebook game surveys anyway), so you'll want to make sure you have around 5-10 minutes to set aside to take it.

We've taken this survey as well, and if we start to notice any gameplay changes arising because of options listed here, we'll make sure to let you know. In the meantime, head over to this link right here to take the survey for yourself.