Okay, I’ll admit it. I got a little sidetracked over winter break. My good friend, The Art of Warlord, may have introduced me to a new game that’s quite addicting. But … I’m slowly getting back on track. Wizard101, Pirate101, and KI mobile games. Progress! I’m continuing my adventures in Animal Cove beta and oh boy does it make you think! There are some really challenging levels, but I’ve been having fun trying to figure everything out. There’s also a few new features that I wanted to talk about.

Daily Bonus

The Daily Bonus is a (relatively) new feature that creates an incentive to log in every day. The more often you log in, the better the rewards you receive. This is not to be confused with the “Daily Spin” which is also still available. Unlike the Daily Bonus, the Daily Spin gives you a random reward regardless of the last time you’ve played. That means that if you’re a consistent and dedicated player of Animal Cove, you can get up to 2 freebies a day. Not too shabby. What I like most about the Daily Bonus though is that it might help us non-max players. After all, since Animal Cove doesn’t allow us to go back and repeat levels, people who’ve completed the game don’t really have a reason to keep logging in on a consistent basis. So, hopefully the Daily Bonus will encourage people to not only stock up on boosts for future levels, but to also give their friends some love at the same time.

Chests

Speaking of incentive, how about some more? I logged in yesterday to find some new dialogue from Winston talking about a strange noise. Turns out 3 treasure chests washed up on the island and they could only be opened by completing levels. Easy enough, right? Well … there’s a catch. Whenever these chests appear on your shore, you only have a limited amount of time to open them. I had 2 days and 8 hours to do it. Although that seems like a long time, it’s actually not if you’ve been stuck on a particular level or don’t have a lot of hearts lying around. Regardless, I was successfully able to open all 3 earlier today. The first chest unlocked after completing 2 levels and gave me 100 coins. The second chest unlocked after completing 6 levels and gave me 300 coins plus a Thundercloud. The last chest unlocked after completing 12 levels and gave me 500 coins, 1 Hammer, and 1 Mega Booster (Bomb + Thundercloud). To help you keep track of where you are, the game will show you your chest progress after each level.

It’s unfortunate that players who’ve already completed the game will miss out on these extra goodies, but I certainly like the idea. After failing a hard level time and time again, it’s easy to become frustrated and lose interest. However, I think these new chests and their time limit may give some players that extra push they need to keep going and advance through the storyline. Oh – it’s also worth noting that this chest feature pairs really well with those “infinite” hearts you can get on the Daily Spin. It’s amazing how quickly you can start plowing through levels when you’re not worried about running out of lives.

My Progress

Last I left off, I was preparing the island for a new arrival. I’m now happy to report that the island’s newest animal, Amanda the Panda, has made herself right at home! She’s a singer/songwriter and a very eager beaver (errr … panda). I’ve also noticed that she sees the best in everything. I think she’ll fit right in.

Of course, there’s still more to be done! I’m only about 23% done with the “Mysteries of the East” portion of the storyline. I’ll recap everything that’s happened once I completely restore the area. In the meantime, I hope everyone’s 2018 is off to a fantastic start!