MHWiki:Current events/Archive/2011/December

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Archive for updates taken place in December of 2011 in Reverse Chronological Order.
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Contents

New Years Trap and Mice!

28 December 2011

New Trap to Welcome the New Year with a BANG!

The Trapsmith at the Festive Comet has a new trap in stock! The 2012 Big Boom Trap is a massive collection of fireworks boasting 2,500 tactical power and 25 luck, which is sure to make every mouse capture a celebration!

Unfortunately, the stock of firecrackers the Trapsmith uses to construct the 2012 Big Boom Trap has been stolen by rogue New Years Mice that are planning their own explosive party. Before you can purchase the 2012 Big Boom Trap, you'll need to arm your trap with Festive Feta and track down a few New Years Mice to obtain the needed 100 firecrackers.

Once you've obtained 100 firecrackers, head over to the Festive Comet Trapsmith to purchase your very own 2012 Big Boom Trap!

New Breed of Mouse Joins the Party!

With all the celebrations going on a new breed has been spotted that's keen to join every party! The Party Head Mouse can been found anywhere festive celebrations are being held. With a whiff or two of Festive Feta, the Party Head Mouse might just wander near your trap...

Festive Comet Begins to Melt

There's no doubt that the Festive Comet and the Mad Elf Mouse's Snow Fortress are both beginning to slowly melt. At their current rate of decay, the Scientists of Digby anticipate both snowy structures will be reduced to very large puddles sometime next week.

Before the comet and fortress melt, make sure you've done all there is to do this Great Winter Hunt! Have you become a Master Toy Builder and claimed your Nutcracker Blueprints? Have you braved the Mad Elf Mouse's Snow Fortress and captured the villain responsible for the missing toy parts? And finally, make sure to hold your own new year celebration by claiming a 2012 Big Boom Trap before the comet melts!

Calamity Carl Thanks Hunters around the Kingdom!

With the Great Winter Hunt nearly at an end, Calamity Carl wanted to take the opportunity to thank each and every hunter that helped find missing toy parts and reach the community toy drive goal!

Carl hopes everyone enjoyed the Great Winter Hunt and wishes every hunter a happy new year!

The 2012 Big Boom Trap and New Mice!

  • Collect 100 firecracker charms from New Years Mice
  • Visit the Festive Comet Trapsmith
  • Claim your 2012 Big Boom Trap!

Travel | Visit the Forums

-- Dave Vanderburg

Festive Hunting Tournaments!

28 December 2011

As many hunters know, the construction yard where the Snow Fortress now stands was the site where the King's Tournament Hall was being constructed. With the plans of the Mad Elf Mouse now foiled by hunters, one last objective remains -- Drive the Mad Elf Mouse and his troublesome Festive Mice out of the Kingdom and finish the construction of the Tournament Hall!

What better way to drive out the Festive Mice than with some hunting competition! In anticipation of the Tournament Hall's completion, the King has commissioned the return of hunting tournaments with some festive-themed competitions!

Working in teams to hunt the Festive Mice is sure to drive them out of the Kingdom quicker! Will your team prove itself as the best festive hunters in the Kingdom?

Joining or Creating a Team

Before you can join a festive tournament, you'll first need a Hunting Team! You can create your own and invite friends, or look around for a friend on a team with an open position.

To create you own team, click the teams link on the main navigation where you can then pick a name, motto and description for your team. Once your team has been created, you can then invite friends to join your team and hunt alongside you!

If a friend has an open position on their team, the captain of that team can send you an invitation to join. You'll then receive a notification from which you can accept or decline the team invitation.

Joining a Tournament

Once you're part of a team, you can join tournaments! To join a tournament, click the tournaments option from the teams drop-down menu on the game navigation. You'll be taken to a listing of all upcoming tournaments.

If you want to see more information about the tournament, including the number of teams involved, how the scoring works, and within which locations the tournament takes place, click the details button. To immediately join the tournament, click the join button.

Please note the captain joining a tournament does not enter the entire team. Each individual team member must join the tournament before it starts. This is in preparation of future updates that will expand the allowed number of team members and also allow different members of your team to compete in different tournaments at the same time.

Competing in a Tournament

Upon joining a tournament, a new heads-up display will appear near the top of the game informing you how long until the tournament starts, how many fellow team members have joined the same tournament, how many active team members are in the same tournament, and some new controls to invite your teammates and friends to compete with you.

Upon the tournament starting, the HUD will change to indicate the amount of time remaining along with your team's current points and rank. You can click the name of the tournament on the HUD to view the tournament details should you need a reminder of the scoring rules.

Tournament Rewards

By competing in tournaments, you can earn collectible trophies and badges, as well as Tournament Tokens, that you'll be able to spend at the Tournament Hall upon its completion. The number of teams that entered the tournament, the length of the tournament, and your team's rank upon the tournament's completion determine what reward you receive.

1st Place

Should your team finish in first place, each member of your team that competed in the tournament will receive a Gold Tournament Trophy along with a heap of Tournament Tokens! Remember, lengthy tournaments will reward more tournament tokens.

2nd Place

Should your team finish in second place, each member of your team that competed in the tournament will receive a Silver Tournament Trophy along with Tournament Tokens!

3rd Place

Should your team finish in third place, each member of your team that competed in the tournament will receive a Bronze Tournament Trophy along with Tournament Tokens!

Competitor

If your team does not finish in the top three, but does finish in the top 25% of teams that were in the tournament, you're considered a Competitor and receive a Tournament Competitor Badge along with some Tournament Tokens!

Participant

If your team does not finish in the top three and does not finish as Competitors, but does finish in the top 50% of teams that were in the tournament, you'll be considered a Participant and receive a Tournament Participant Badge along with a few tournament tokens.

Tournament Tokens

Tournament Tokens are awarded based on the length of the tournament and the rank your team holds when the tournament ends. The longer the length of tournament and the better your team finishes, the more tokens you'll earn!

After the Great Winter Hunt has concluded you'll be able to spend these tokens at the Tournament Hall for hunting loot and equipment!

Tournament Hall

With the Snow Fortress beginning to melt and the Festive Mice that protect it being chased away by the diligent effort of hunters, construction of the King's Tournament Hall will be finished shortly after the end of the Great Winter Hunt!

The Tournament Hall will serve as a place to celebrate your victories and redeem Tournament Tokens for new charms, hunting loot, and other resources useful to hunters across the Kingdom!

The King has even placed an order for a set of opulent metallic bases made of bronze, silver and gold that should arrive shortly after the end of the Great Winter Hunt. The most experienced trapsmiths have been commissioned to ensure these bases have the potential to be some of the finest hunting equipment ever made!

Festive Tournament Supply Kit

The King has put together a special supply kit to mark the begining of Festive Hunting Tournaments! Inside the kit is 100 pieces of Festive Feta along with a 1 month Lucky Golden Shield. As a special bonus, this kit also contains 50 Champion Charms which provide +400 power, 5% power bonus and +3 luck to your trap! When the Tournament Hall makes its grand opening, hunters will also be able to purchase these charms using Tournament Tokens.

Festive Hunting Tournaments!

  • Create or join a hunting team
  • Join Festive Tournaments!
  • Earn trophies, badges and tokens!

Browse Tournaments

-- Dave Vanderburg

Facebook selects MouseHunt as one of their "Best Games of 2011"

22 December 2011

We Couldn't Have Done It Without You!

MouseHunt has been selected by Facebook as one of the "Best games of 2011". You can see the official selection page here.

This would not have been possible without the support of our players.

During our MouseHunt retreat last week we discussed what we should focus on for 2012. The whole team decided we should focus our efforts on building tools and features which help people participate more deeply in our amazing communi-TAY. Our top players treat new players better than in any other game. They also work more closely and make better, long-lasting relationships than in any other game on facebook! I guess that's what happens when you put all the players on one team against a common foe :)

Let's all make 2012 the year of the communi-tay and REALLY show all the other games out there what it's like to play social games, socially :)

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and a Great Winter Hunt to all of you!

-- Joel Auge
CEO - HitGrab Inc.

Mad Elf Mouse Threatens Gnawnia!

20 December 2011

Mad Elf Mouse's Sinister Plan

At last, the plot of the Festive Mice has been revealed! Their toy collecting across the Kingdom has been orchestrated by a sinister Mad Elf Mouse who plans to create an army of Destructoy Mice! With the quantity of toy parts collected, the Mad Elf could no doubt assemble an army massive enough to overwhelm hunters and reduce the Town of Gnawnia to ruins!

There is no time to waste, hunters! The Mad Elf Mouse must be found and captured to save not only the Great Winter Hunt but the Kingdom of Gnawnia itself!

Location of the Mad Elf Mouse

It has become clear that the Mad Elf Mouse has been using the construction yard south of the castle as a hiding spot for his stockpile of toy parts. With enough toy parts to start building his army, the Mad Elf Mouse has constructed a massive Snow Fortress to protect his plan from meddling MouseHunters.

The Snow Fortress is full of elaborate booby traps made from toy parts. To possess the knowledge to avoid the traps, you must first become a Master Toy Maker by building enough toys to earn 500 Toy Receipts. Only hunters who have achieved the title of Master Toy Maker will be permitted to enter the Snow Fortress.

Infiltrating the Snow Fortress will not be an easy task! The Mad Elf Mouse is hiding in the Throne Room located at the centre of the fortress which is behind three heavily guarded areas. You'll need to have Festive Feta armed and hunt your way through all three guarded sections in order to reach the Mad Elf Mouse!

To make matters worse, the Mad Elf Mouse has invented a pulse device to disable standard hunting equipment when used within the Throne Room. Once you hunt your way through the three guarded sections and find yourself in the presence of the Mad Elf Mouse, only a trap made from toy parts will work!

The Nutcracker Nuisance Trap

In order to build the Nutcracker Nuisance Trap, you'll first need to find the Irradiated LED Bulbs that the Mad Elf Mouse stole at the beginning of the Great Winter Hunt. Larry's intel indicates the bulbs have been broken into three shards and are now being carefully guarded by Squeaker Claws Mice within the Snow Fortress of the Mad Elf.

Capture three Squeaker Claws Mice, find the LED shards and combine them with your blueprints and splintered wood to create the Nutcracker Nuisance Trap and give the Mad Elf Mouse a taste of his own toy technology!

Capture the Mad Elf Mouse!

  • Travel to the Snow Fortress
  • Battle your way to the center of the fortress
  • Arm the Nutcracker Trap and capture the Mad Elf Mouse!

Travel to the Snow Fortress

-- Dave Vanderburg

Holiday Gifts can now be Opened!

19 December 2011

The Gift Opening Ceremony has Begun!

With a horn blast loud enough to be heard across the Kingdom, the Gift Opening Ceremony has begun! From the middle of a sea of confetti, streamers and balloons the King has decreed that hunters may finally open the gifts under their trees as well as peek inside their team stockings! It's time to crack open some of the King's Reserve Bubbleh and open your holiday gifts!

To view your stocking stuffers, visit your Team profile and click your own stocking to see all the goodies teammates left in your stocking. Who sent you what will be a mystery! Can you guess which teammate left which treat for you?

To open the gifts under your tree, visit your Hunter Profile by clicking the MouseHunt shield at the top left corner of the game and then click the view gifts button. Each gift can then be opened to see what treat your friends have wrapped up for you!

Along with gifts from friends you'll notice three special gifts as a special thank you for helping reach the Toy Drive goal. For reaching the wooden toys goal, Carl has left a gift under each hunter's tree containing something to help you this Great Winter Hunt. For reaching the clockwork toys goal, Larry has left a gift under each hunter's tree containing something highly sought after by every hunter. Finally, for reaching the metal toys goal, a stranger from outside the Kingdom has left a gift containing an exciting hint of things to come!

Holiday Gifts can now be Opened!

  • Visit your hunter profile and team profile to open gifts
  • Under the tree on your profile you'll find three special gifts

[{MHdomain}}/profile.php Visit your Hunter Profile] | Visit your Team Profile

-- Dave Vanderburg

Gift Opening Ceremony around the Corner!

18 December 2011

Hey hunters!

The Toy Drive goal will no doubt be met this year making the King pleased and Carl extremely appreciative for the help!

With the Winter Hunt toys rebuilt and safely stored away from the mice the Gift Opening Ceremony can finally take place! The King however, is still sorting out a few final details for the ceremony. Keep watch for an announcement of when the ceremony will start!

Once the ceremony has been held hunters across the Kingdom will be able to open the gifts under their trees as well as find out what treats await them in their team stockings. During the ceremony three special gifts from Carl, Larry and an unknown secret admirer will also be delivered to all hunters!

Keep watching this space for the upcoming announcement!

Well done rebuilding the toys! Congratulations hunters!

-- Dave Vanderburg

New Festive Mouse Discovered!

13 December 2011

News Flash! New Breed of Mouse threatens Great Winter Hunt!

Another new breed of festive mouse has been discovered! Toy Tinkerer Mice have been spotted across the Kingdom and appear to be involved in an elaborate plot to ruin the Great Winter Hunt!

Toy Tinkerers have been found near huge stockpiles of built toys, although the toys these mice build are all booby trapped! Trains with dynamite, flimsy pogo sticks and jack-in-the-boxes stuffed with itching powder are only a few examples of the mischevious inventions for which these mice are responsible.

Toy Tinkerer Mice have also displayed a greater degree of organization when it comes to hoarding toys, creating even further suspicion. The King is almost certain that some sort of evil mouse mastermind is behind the booby trapped toy plot!

Keep on building toys, hunters; the Kingdom is counting on you to find all the lost toy parts before the enemy can! Rebuild Gnawnia's toys and capture whatever mouse is behind this plot!

New Festive Mouse Discovered!

A new mouse has been discovered wandering through deep snow drifts! Snow Scavenger Mice search the snowy terrain looking for spare toy parts and other trinkets left behind from the Festive Comet's explosive arrival.

The appearance of a new enemy mouse is always a concern, however, the arrival of this mouse also appears to have coordinated the efforts of the hordes of festive mice across the Kingdom. Since the arrival of the Snow Scavenger, mice have been seen gathering near the construction yard south of the Castle.

What are the festive mice organizing? Could there be something more sinister going on? The King is investigating these new developments at the construction yard. Keep your eyes peeled, hunters; you may soon be called in to help!

New Charms to Maximize Toy Building!

With festive mice across the Kingdom hoarding toy parts, the King requested that Moustashio the Charmer start working on a way to give hunters an upper hand against the mice.

After a careful analysis of Toy Wood, Springs and Screws, Moustashio devised a way to incorporate these parts into three new festive charms specially designed to attract mice carrying specific toy parts as loot.

Moustashio's supply of toy parts is low, making these charms difficult to create. Save them for times you need an extra boost or help finding a specific toy part. These charms can be purchased with Facebook Credits or from the Festive Comet Charm Shoppe by spending Ice Coins.

Keep Your Eyes Open

The King is increasingly concerned that a sinister plot is unfolding, involving the Toy Stockpiles and festive mice. Something is afoot under the many feet of snow... Keep watching this space for announcements as future discoveries are made.

New Festive Mouse and Charms!

  • Can you capture a Snow Scavenger Mouse?
  • Use Moustashio's new charms to help find toy parts!

[{MHdomain}}/travel.php Travel to the Festive Comet] | Get Festive Feta and New Charms

-- Dave Vanderburg

Strange Stockpiles of Toys found across the Kingdom

09 December 2011

A Strange Discovery... Toy Stockpiles

Strange reports are pouring in from across the Kingdom from hunters discovering hidden stockpiles of pre-assembled toys. These toys, although made of wood, cogs and metal, are slightly different than those being built by hunters.

The slight modifications, and the fact that the toys were so carefully hidden suggest they were assembled for sinister purposes. Could a mouse be secretly assembling toys? What possible motive could the enemy have for constructing toys and hiding them across the Kingdom?

While hunting with Festive Feta, you may come across a Toy Stockpile. When you do, you'll see it as a loot drop in your journal. These stockpiles will not be added to your inventory, and instead be immediately sent to the King to contribute toward the community toy drive goal.

Plethora of Parts

Larry has given a quick inspection to the inventories of hunters and has noticed an alarmingly large quantity of toy parts siting idle! There are currently an abundance of parts, enough to increase the toy drive goal for Clockwork Toys by more than 30%, and the Metal Toy goal by more than 25%!

Spread the word amongst your hunting group to start building toys with these idle parts! Together we can reach the King's Toy Drive Goal!

Toy Drive Special Gifts

The effort that hunters are pouring into the community toy drive has warmed the hearts of popular characters from around the Kingdom! So much so that Calamity Carl, Larry, and a secret admirer have all pledged to give each hunter a special gift after reaching each toy drive goal.

Calamity Carl's favourite type of toys are made of wood. He's pledged a... uniquely wrapped gift as a thank you for building so many wooden toys!

Larry's favourite toys are clockwork. The moving gears never cease to amaze him! Larry has offered a neatly-wrapped gift for building so many clockwork toys!

The final gift is from a secret admirer who enjoys toys made from metal. This mystery observer has long had their eye on the Kingdom of Gnawnia. Their gift is ornately wrapped, with an interesting decoration that causes the gift to float, much like an airship.

After the toy drive goals have been met, keep an eye open for an announcement about these congratulatory gifts.

Strange Toy Stockpiles Hidden around the Kingdom

  • While hunting for toy parts, you may discover a stockpile
  • Stockpiles are instantly sent to the King and contribute toward the global toy drive goal

Travel to the Festive Comet | Get Festive Feta and Winter Charms

-- Dave Vanderburg

Festive Comet Arrives: Calamity Carl's Toy Factory Obliterated

07 December 2011

What happens when a massive comet of holiday cheer traveling at 70 kilometres per second collides with a hastily built toy factory? A festive explosion causing snowy toy parts to be flung across the entire Kingdom!

Poor Calamity Carl now has his factory buried under snow and all the toys he and his team so diligently built have been smashed into pieces and scattered across the Kingdom.

The King now needs your help to right Carl's plan and rebuild the lost toys! The mission will not be easy, requiring special festive bait and traveling across the Kingdom, pushing the limits of your hunting expertise!

Finding Scattered Toy Parts

The impact of the comet caused toy parts to be spread across the Kingdom, where they quickly fell into the paws of mischievous festive mice. To make matters worse, the festive vermin have become wise to the hunters' tricks from previous years. No longer do they come near traps baited with sweet gingerbread or carefully seasoned gouda. But do not lose hope, for the secret to attracting Festive Mice lies at the comet itself -- Festive Feta Cheese!

The King's cleanup crew has already discovered a large deposit of Festive Feta and is handing out rations inside hunters' daily Loyalty Chests. Additionally, if you find yourself needing some more, you can hunt at the Festive Comet and search for a few extra pieces. As an added bonus, the very first time you travel to the Festive Comet the King will give you 30 free pieces of Festive Feta.

Once you've obtained some Festive Feta, it's time to hunt for mice carrying toy parts! Head anywhere across the entire Kingdom and use Festive Feta to lure winter mice out from their hiding spots. Try hunting in different locations, and you'll no doubt find different toy parts depending on where you choose to hunt.

Looking to further fine-tune festive mouse hunting? Winter Charms are made from small flecks of the Festive Comet itself, which is the only known means of attracting the rare Snowflake Mouse. Snowflake Mice drift across the Kingdom on the cool winter breeze, picking up various knick knacks and odd ends they find -- including recently displaced toy parts! If you find yourself with a surplus of Festive Feta, trade some in at the Festive Comet Charm Shoppe for Winter Charms before heading out in search of toy parts.

You can see what toy parts you have collected by clicking the Build Toys button on your heads-up display. From there you can also browse the various toys, the parts required to make them, and build them with the press of a button!

Earn Ice Coins and Toy Receipts

Each time you build a toy, you'll be rewarded with Ice Coins. Ice Coins can be spent at the various shoppes located at the Festive Comet for a wide variety of hunting supplies, including brand new winter trap skins and some old favourite festive traps!

To show your skill as a toy builder, the King will also award you with Toy Receipts for building toys. As you gain more experience in Toy Building and collect more receipts, you'll find new items at the Festive Shoppe available for purchase. The more difficult the toy you build, the more receipts you'll be rewarded.

As a special bonus, the very first time you build a toy, you'll also receive a Winter Hunt Gift Box! Try to built each toy type at least once!

A Special Holiday Trap Design -- The Nutcracker Nuisance

When you obtain 500 Toy Receipts, you shall be known as a Master Toy Builder! Upon reaching this epic milestone, you may claim a set of Nutcracker Nuisance Trap blueprints from the King.

The Nutcracker Nuisance utilizes the latest in festive hunting technology and is the shining achievement of the good scientists of Digby this holiday season!

Community Toy Drive

To ensure every young hunter in Gnawnia has something special under their tree, Calamity Carl's original stock of toys needs to be rebuilt from scratch. His toy order included 1,000,000 wooden toys, 750,000 clockwork toys and 1,500,000 metal toys. You can view the community's progress at the very top of the game!

Being so pressed for time and with the Toy Factory under a hundred metres of snow, even Larry is helping with the toy drive! The King needs every hunter in the community to work together to reach our goal!

To celebrate the Toy Drive, the King is planning to hold the Great Gift Opening Ceremony shortly after the goal is reached to celebrate the community's success!

Share Gifts with Friends and Hunting Teammates

What would the Great Winter Hunt be without gifts? This year you can share gifts with both friends and teammates in new and unique ways!

Leave Gifts under Friends' Profile Trees

To start your gift exchange with friends, first visit your own hunter profile by clicking the MouseHunt logo in the top-left corner of the game. From there you can setup your toy part wish list and then head out to visit your friends' profiles.

When viewing a friend's profile, you can both fulfill their toy part wish list and also click the send gift button to leave a neatly wrapped gift under their tree. What's inside will be a mystery until the King holds the Grand Gift Opening Ceremony later in the month!

Give Stocking Stuffers to Teammates

If you're part of a hunting team, visit your team profile to leave gifts in the stockings of teammates! Team stockings can be opened later in the month after the King holds the Grand Gift Opening Ceremony.

Winter Hunt Skins and Baskets

Festive Feta Gift Basket

A soft velvet hat may not be the best choice for storing briny cheese, but when it comes to holiday gifts, it's really just the thought that counts. This basket contains 50 pieces of Festive Feta and makes a great gift for friends during the Great Winter Hunt!

Winter Survival Kit

This handy kit is fully stocked with everything needed for the Great Winter Hunt! Inside you'll find 100 Festive Feta, 50 Winter Charms and 10 assorted toy parts!

Festive Box Trap Skin

Is Acolyte hunting too spooky and non-festive for you? Does the sight of a Lich Mouse ruin your festive mood? Apply this festive skin to festively hunt spooky mice with festive style!

Winter Oasis Skin

Is the desert heat distracting you while hunting? Apply this festive skin to your Oasis Water Node Trap to cool down and hunt in festive style!

The Great Winter Hunt Begins!

  • Collect Festive Feta from Loyalty Chests and as loot at the comet
  • Search the Kingdom for Festive Mice and Toy Parts
  • Build toys to earn Ice Coins and Toy Receipts
  • Reach 500 Toy Receipts to claim blueprints for a new trap!

Travel to the Festive Comet | Get Festive Feta and Winter Charms

-- Dave Vanderburg

Calamity Carl's Toy Factory

02 December 2011

Gnawnian Toy Shoppe: Opening Soon!

The Vacant Lot south of the castle is no stranger to visitors and festivities. The land is owned by the King and often rented to those looking to host celebrations or parties. For whatever reason, however, tenants tend to shy away from the area during late November, and despite the King dramatically lowering the cost of rent, no one has shown interest in renting the lot.

Just as the King had given up hope of finding a tenant, a particularly festive hunter named Calamity Carl came to Gnawnia asking to build a toy factory where he and his merry toy makers could produce toys for all the young hunters of Gnawnia. Delighted by the offer, the King gladly offered the lot free of charge to Calamity Carl, and almost overnight an amazing toy factory was built!

Despite having a reputation for not entirely thinking his plans through, Carl's mission to produce delightful toys is going extremely well! In only a few days Carl's team has already produced a massive number of festive toys. It seems his plan to bring a smile to the face of each young hunter will be a great success!

With Calamity Carl's plan to spread festive cheer, this upcoming Great Winter Hunt is sure to be the best ever! Wish Carl luck and knock on wood that his plan stays free of any minor setback!

-- Dave Vanderburg