Collectibles and the Decoration Collection
Collectibles turn up in the game in two different roles. One kind is needed to kick off cooperative projects and simply drops when I harvest fields on my own farm. The other kind belongs to the separate Decoration Collection, and I gather those from the shop, in-game events, the Wheel of Fortune or the Mystery chest in exchange for a new decoration for the farm.
I treat collectibles for the cooperative as a compulsory part of playing, because without them the cooperative's projects won't budge, and I just let them pile up from harvesting. The Decoration Collection is a nice bonus on top of events I'd be playing anyway, so it pays to keep an eye on it as you go instead of rushing it at the last minute.
I get collectibles for the cooperative by harvesting fields
Collectibles are small items you can't start cooperative projects without. They drop during normal field harvests on my own farm, I don't need any special building or any special trick for it, ordinary farming is enough.
When I don't know where to hunt down a particular piece, I open the overview window for that collectible in my inventory, where the game spells out how it can be obtained. It's worth a look right at the start of a project so I don't waste time searching blindly.
Collectibles are basically the ticket into a project, and until I have enough of them, the cooperative project won't start.
Missing pieces can be bought, but I'd rather collect them myself
If I'm a few pieces short of a complete set and don't feel like waiting, the game offers the option to buy all the remaining collectibles and use them right away, paid with Gold from my personal account. It's a quick fix just before a project deadline, but I pay real Gold for every missing piece, so I don't use it across the board.
Once I've gathered enough, the game keeps track of it itself, and trying to add another piece brings up a message saying I already have a sufficient number of collectibles. The collection then shows as complete, and as long as it's incomplete, the project waits.
The pieces I've put in aren't lost forever either, when I take them out of the collection, they go back into my inventory. That comes in handy when I change my mind or want to shift items between projects.
The Decoration Collection works on the same principle but comes from different sources
Besides collectibles for the cooperative, the game also has a separate Decoration Collection. The principle is similar, I keep gathering pieces until the collection is filled, except the reward here isn't starting a project but a new decoration for the farm. Decorations won from events are also stored separately as event decorations.
Pieces for the Decoration Collection come from the shop, events and the Wheel of Fortune
There are plenty of sources and it pays to watch them as you go, because limited-time events don't come back on a fixed schedule:
- The shop, limited-time sales
- Cooperative activity
- Themed events, Wedding planning, Mobile stall, Storytime, Hawaii, Camping, Asia, UFO
- The Build button
- Santa's secret gift workshop
- Special offers
- Wheel of Fortune
- Mystery chest
- Island farm
- The forum
- General in-game events
In practice that means it pays to peek into every event even when it doesn't appeal to me, there's often a Decoration Collection piece tucked away in there that I can't buy anywhere else.
The Decoration Collection unlocks tier by tier and the slots are revealed by clicking
The Decoration Collection is split into tiers, and in my overview I always see the current tier I'm working on. The individual slots in the collection are hidden at first and I reveal them by clicking, only then do I see which collectible or decoration is hiding underneath.
Details about all the collections I have running are in one overview, so I don't have to remember how many pieces I'm still missing where.
