# The Simpsons: Tapped Out **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [December 6, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231 "2012-12-06T21:08:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 100
**Author:** ![sideshowkar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5e9695/32.png) [@sideshowkar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sideshowkar)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1984 "2013-12-14T18:27:48Z")
I’m getting to the point where I’m feeling like I have enough / too many friends, so I’m making changes on the list next to my name in order to reflect that. I’m also adding some people who have left their user names on the last few pages. I hope I spell everything correctly. Toejam \> RooshJam MOIDALIZE \> moidalize Loach \> Loach232 Fiendish Astronaut \> benyacobi X HairyCactus friend\> beverbeaver Sterling Archer \> madillma NAF1138 \> NAF1138 djoelie \> djoelie84693 X Trion’s friend \> gritngile181 X Trion’s friend \> reneefraatz LateComer \> donspadeoa Fenris \> Fenris9999 Mahaloth \> Mahaloth Labtrash \> Labtrash Antigen \> antijenic TimeWinder \> TimeWinder Reloy3 \> akareloy237 Wombat99 \> Wombatninetynine Trion \> Atrion66 Intergalactic Gladiator \> jsteck13 notipping (banned) \> resting666 pulykamell \> pulykamell even sven \> kejiaflowers bauble \> baublera Bike Rider \> bikeriderflorida X LateComer’s friend \> Psychout3000 Hokey Monkey \> pimaspi EristicKallistic \> mrdiskord Blisters \> MistyMeow X Blisters’ husband \> redfivestand Steener122 \> Z94WZE60X8 Poysyn \> DDRigs X Poysyn’s husband \> DarbyRigs X Poysyn’s daughter \> Megadarby Tamarin \> JubbleJubble Raza \> razabradley Just1lurk \> just1lurk iftheresaway \> iftheresaway Yearsofstatic \> Yearsofs pancakes3 \> ericcshen jackdavinci \> jonjackturtl Just1Lurk \> sarusim USCDiver \> USCDiver heater2000ca \> heater2000ca jackdavinci \> jackdavinci Happycamper\*5 \> happycamper5 luvrbcs \> Luvrbcs2 Blisters \> thehentzel (I can’t find this name to add it) BulwerLytton \> BulwerLytton D\_Odds \> CSetti haleynlenysmommy\> haleynlenysmommy Taber \> tabereins Hamlet \> JohnnyQuad asterion \> jmshirley554 Joey P \> JoeyJoeyPP X \> KAZES1LOVE HongKongFooey\>HKF3000 blainer \> donhomer64 minionkat \> minionkat Wile E \> WileESongdog enalzi \> BelowZilch malaka \> dsynadinos ekweizn \> ekweizn sideshowkar \> kaargh, sideshowkar, karmutt, thistleor - no longer looking for new friends EnderW24 \> Enderboy1126 Folly \> Folly312 Hentor the Barbarian \> swat\_yukon795 Stink Fish Pot \> 68XR7G Fair Rarity \> xamovo innerstickler \> innersticker skammer \> keeene pricciar \> MrKwygibo ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1985 "2013-12-14T19:58:09Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Would anyone be interested in a Tapped Out “best of” contest? I’m thinking after the Holiday season is over that it would be cool to have a judges go through other folks Towns and pick “best of” for various categories. Note: I would also include categories for those at lower levels as well. Picking the categories could be fun: I nominate “Demented Zoning Laws.” It’s no accident that in my town the elementary school is located between the dog track and the prison, for example. I’m just miffed that the tattoo parlor could only be placed on Squidport tiles. Switching gears: is it just me, or are they going to have to get a LOT more generous with gift bags in order for the “group” goals to be met? I’m nearly maxed out on friends, and I’ve still had a grand total of less than 100 gift bags to give out since the start of the competition. (Although it’s possible I’m just unlucky – I’ve also played the 99-1 dog race twice a day for over five months now and never won.) Amusing calculation: Handwaving across the various ways of getting them, a donut is worth about a nickle of real money. At 15 donuts for 12 gift bags, the 450 million “first level” of the “Springfields Unite” gift is worth 28 million dollars of real money if everybody bought the gift bags instead of received them randomly. We can do this! Who’s in? ---
**Author:** ![sideshowkar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5e9695/32.png) [@sideshowkar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sideshowkar)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1986 "2013-12-14T20:07:55Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Switching gears: is it just me, or are they going to have to get a LOT more generous with gift bags in order for the “group” goals to be met? It’s not you. I have about 60 friends on each of my 4 accounts and I’m struggling to get together one bag for each person every day. It seemed so much easier during Halloween. I seem to get between 25 and 40 bags, depending on the town, so I can only drop every other day right now. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1987 "2013-12-14T20:27:57Z")
> [@Unpronounceable](#): > > It got fixed, sorry. Mine’s working fine. I’ve got a string of about 10 handshakes hovering above my Squidport. I’ve got no pressing need to build so I’m just letting them sit to see how many I can collect. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1988 "2013-12-14T21:48:43Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Mine’s working fine. I’ve got a string of about 10 handshakes hovering above my Squidport. I’ve got no pressing need to build so I’m just letting them sit to see how many I can collect. Hey all, Can a few of you kind folks tap on my squidport? I want to see if I can get some tiles the quick and easy way… Someone tapped it this morning (thank you, whoever you were!) but I only have one handshake. As i understand it, there will be multiple handshakes built up on the tile icon, and then I tap the tile to release 1 tile per handshake, being careful NOT to tap the last tile (or I would have to start over again with a new tile). Anyway, much thanks for anyone who could help me out in this season of cheer! ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1989 "2013-12-14T21:51:17Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > . > > Switching gears: is it just me, or are they going to have to get a LOT more generous with gift bags in order for the “group” goals to be met? I’m nearly maxed out on friends, and I’ve still had a grand total of less than 100 gift bags to give out since the start of the competition. (Although it’s possible I’m just unlucky – I’ve also played the 99-1 dog race twice a day for over five months now and never won.) What ARE the “group” goals, and who is in “the group”? I’m not clear on this at all. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1990 "2013-12-14T22:04:06Z")
I posted three times in a row, because each post is a different topic, and. I didn’t want my questions to get lost in one post. For the dog track, would anyone care to share their betting/winning history? I have only won once, and it was for the 19-1 dog, not the 99-1. I have placed most of my bets on the long shot, even though I know the odds of winning are probably next to zero for me. I know people have won the 99-1 long shot, but i’ve had very little luck with this game. My scratchy lottery tickets have been a joke, where I probably get the $350 prize 3 out of every 4 tickets (with the fourth ticket almost always being the $500 prize). Whoopie. (Hey, I know it’s better than nothing, but I hate wasting my time “scratching” that ticket for $100 net bucks.) So, for the track, do you play once, twice or more times per day? Does anyone ever bet on anything other than the 99-1 long shot? Has most everyone won at least one $200,000 jackpot? I was going to compile a stat sheet of the dogs and their finishes, to see if I could get some idea of how the track operates, but they switch the dog’s odds on each race, so it seems pretty random. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1991 "2013-12-14T22:33:19Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > What ARE the “group” goals, and who is in “the group”? I’m not clear on this at all. Just like you get gifts for the total number of gift card points you accumulate, they are also giving out gifts for the grand total of points every user as a group accumulates, although this may be based on gift bags rather than gift cards. Click on the trophy to see how everyone is doing. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1992 "2013-12-14T22:57:38Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > What ARE the “group” goals, and who is in “the group”? I’m not clear on this at all. The group is everyone in the world who is playing the game. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1993 "2013-12-14T22:58:13Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > What ARE the “group” goals, and who is in “the group”? I’m not clear on this at all. [If you don’t mind being spoiled on what the remaining Xmas prizes are(seriously, that is not a major spoiler), you can see the group prizes **AND the current counter** : Here]([http://tstonews.com/xmas-2013/](http://tstonews.com/xmas-2013/)) ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1994 "2013-12-14T23:24:41Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > [If you don’t mind being spoiled on what the remaining Xmas prizes are(seriously, that is not a major spoiler), you can see the group prizes **AND the current counter** : > > Here]([http://tstonews.com/xmas-2013/](http://tstonews.com/xmas-2013/)) Thanks for the link. But I’m still not clear on when the group goals come into play, or how they are received. Maybe I’m being incredibly dense. I see the personal prizes, and I get when you collect tickets, you get one of the prizes… But the group prizes? Where does the Christmas totem, for example, show up? ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1995 "2013-12-15T00:18:24Z")
Anyone getting a friend request from hrhomer, that’s me. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1996 "2013-12-15T00:32:05Z")
Squidport Pt 4, “Make Homer Swear at the Ocean”. 12 hours. I put this in play over a day ago, and I can’t find homer. I have not seen a thumbs up by the waterfront anywhere, and the only thing I can do is check the Squidport icon in my task bar, which tells me I still need to run this task, and Homer makes a sound in the bsckground. But it still lists 0/1, and I can’t find homer anywhere… Anyone know where I can find homer? Does anyone remember when Homer swears at the ocean, if he is visible, or if he disappears for a while? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1997 "2013-12-15T01:59:53Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Thanks for the link. > > But I’m still not clear on when the group goals come into play, or how they are received. Maybe I’m being incredibly dense. I see the personal prizes, and I get when you collect tickets, you get one of the prizes… But the group prizes? Where does the Christmas totem, for example, show up? If you hit the little peppermint-trophy thing at the bottom of the screen, it’ll show you the progress on the various prizes. There will be two buttons at the bottom of THAT screen, one that shows an individual, and one that shows a group. Hit the group one. What you’re now seeing is a counter of how many gift bags have been left in other people’s Springfields, across the entire game. Once that counter reaches 450,000,000, everybody in the game will get a gift, that will appear in your inventory just like the personal ones do. The counter increments any time anyone, anywhere drops a gift bag in a friend’s town. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1998 "2013-12-15T02:23:09Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Anyone know where I can find homer? Does anyone remember when Homer swears at the ocean, if he is visible, or if he disappears for a while? > > Thanks! I don’t remember the task, but when a character is in your task list and you tap the task, it’ll take to you the character’s location. So say Homer is drinking at Moe’s, your game will take you there. If the character is already doing an assigned task that you tap on, it’ll show you how much longer is left, just like when you tap any occupied character/building. I have the max friends and I visit all of them every day, for the most part. At first I was desperate for the cash. Then it was Halloween and I was making so many donuts through extra goo. Then it was the tile glitch, and I was making XP four-fingered hand over yellow fist. Now it’s Christmas. When Christmas is over, unless there are a lot of tiles to tap, I probably won’t visit everyone every day. Still no found coins for me, and I’m over 18,000 gift cards now. This morning, my game crashed right after I let my elves loose in my town. When it reloaded, they hadn’t collected my presents and bags, nor could I send them out again. I’ve noticed that I’ve had fewer gift bags today to give out and I think that’s because there are a lot hidden in my town that I can’t find (even going into edit mode) and they couldn’t dig them out for me. I’ve had less than 10 bags to give out today. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/1999 "2013-12-15T02:25:42Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > For the dog track, would anyone care to share their betting/winning history? I just won my 2nd jackpot yesterday. I only bet the 99:1 dog. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Squidport Pt 4, “Make Homer Swear at the Ocean”. 12 hours. > > I put this in play over a day ago, and I can’t find homer. In your taskbook, tap on the icon that has Homer’s job, and tap on the “Do It” button. The screen will jump to his location. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2000 "2013-12-15T03:07:50Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > Still no found coins for me, and I’m over 18,000 gift cards now. Me too. And it took me 24 minutes to go to all 100 towns and click their gift cards tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2001 "2013-12-15T03:11:39Z")
Make sure you play on Christmas, folks. The gift cards will double in value that day. Gift bags, too. Only on the 25th. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2002 "2013-12-15T03:52:46Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > If you hit the little peppermint-trophy thing at the bottom of the screen, it’ll show you the progress on the various prizes. There will be two buttons at the bottom of THAT screen, one that shows an individual, and one that shows a group. Hit the group one. Thanks. I guess this whole planet “group” thing just didn’t sink in. I guess when the target thresholds are hit, we will see those prizes? > [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > I just won my 2nd jackpot yesterday. I only bet the 99:1 dog. > > In your taskbook, tap on the icon that has Homer’s job, and tap on the “Do It” button. The screen will jump to his location. Thanks… I finally found Homer. For some reason, when my tile appeared above the boardwalk, when Homer’s task was finished (swearing at the ocean), it didn’t put a thumbs up near the boardwalk, it changed my tile into an handshake, which I thought was what happened when a friend clicked on the tile for me. So, after a day and a half, I decided to hit the handshake, and he popped out of that. The weird thing was the tile disappeared, and it didn’t go into my inventory. So I had to start from scratch to get another tile out there. I am still hoping the tile glitch works. No way I want to work on the boardwalk for a year, which is what apparently it works out to if you go by the game’s actual time layout. So please, anyone who sees a tile above my Squidport, click on it for me! If it tells me who did it when and if I clear out the handshakes, i’ll hook you up with gifts! 😃 Thanks for the info on your dog track betting. I think betting on the long shot is the only way to go. Even though i hit on the 19-1 dog, that was pure luck too, and i’d be majorly pissed if the 99-1 came in in me and i didn’t bet it. I could really use the influx of cash, too. I haven’t had the benefit of any real game glitches since I started so late, so I am always broke. Even when I think i’m getting ahead, I stumble onto another quest, requiring me to lay out big bucks (to me, anyway) for a building of some kind. Right now, I don’t even have $15k and I’m behind three buildings. And this is with the added $40K from the track. I don’t know why I’m so broke all the time and everyone else seems flush with cash. Maybe I just haven’t played the game long enough to build up a healthy reserve. I know some folks have been playing for a year or more, and that could explain my inability to get ahead of the debt cycle. I don’t care if I have only a dollar more than i need, I just hate not being able to build/buy what I need to when I need to. Come on, race track! Oh, add me to the list of folks who have not found ANY coins. Just the one per day from the one building. No Mr. plow jacket yet, but i did get my second house full of christmas lights. I don’t knew what happens if I get that third light string, but I hope it’s a reward for completing the “task” that is in my task book right now. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2003 "2013-12-15T12:42:14Z")
For the record, I’ve just received my first coin from a present. I think we’re looking at the same odds as getting a donut from a ghost. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231.md?page=99) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231.md?page=101)