Hi Whackers!

We're having a sale! This weekend, get 30% MORE Bush Bucks on purchases of 50 Bush Bucks or higher!

To make it even sweeter, if you purchase 500 Bush Bucks in one purchase on participating game sites*, you get a signed Bush Whacker 2 poster free! That's right, we'll mail you the above poster with signatures from the whole Codename Entertainment team**! Limit 1 per character!

The sale runs until Monday May 25th at Noon PDT!

* In order to run this promotion, we contacted the sites our games run on and only received permission from select ones.

** In order to mail you this poster we will need you to provide a valid address. A form for submitting your address will appear above the game on your first refresh after a valid purchase.

Hi Whackers!

To recap:

The Spring Event in Bush Whacker is primarily focused around designing a gorgeous spring garden with which to impress the picky judges of Bushwhackia. It's super easy to get started: Whack Bushes! Find Seeds! Grow Flowers! Once you feel you've got enough, start laying out your design and submit it!

Once the submissions are closed at the end of the event, the entire Codename Entertainment studio reviews them all and choose their favourites for each platform; 3 lucky players from Armor Games, Big Fish Games, Games.com, Facebook, Addicting Games and Kongregate will all be awarded prizes of 250, 200, and 150 bush bucks.

The coveted "Community Choice" award is picked by the Bush Whacker Communities, and has a prize of 50 bush bucks! Vote for as many submissions as you like, and at the end of the event the top submission as voted by YOU the players will be awarded the prize.

And without further ado here are your winners!

Facebook Winners

Kongregate Winners

Armor Games Winners

Big Fish Games Winners

Games.com Winners

Addicting Games Winners

Congratulations again to all our winners, your Bush Buck prizes have been added to your accounts!

Greetings Whackers,

History can be so interesting sometimes. A visitor in the Commons needs your help to look up Victorian fashions.

If you completed the quest and liked the reward, you can buy the Queen Victoria Energy Pack! It comes with 5 Queen Victoria Energy drinks which turn you into her Majesty, 100 Bush Bucks and a Gift Token! The Gift Token allows you to gift one to a friend! And you can buy the pack up to 5 times!

The quest and the sale will run until Tuesday May 19th at Noon PDT!

What is it like to work in a video game company?

When I was a kid, I couldn't imagine what that would be like. I really had no idea.

Codename Entertainment and the other game studios in Victoria have come together to offer high school students the Video Game Work Experience Program. This program provides students with the chance to spend four days inside a video game studio.

Students at Codename get a chance to try their hand at several different roles in the company, including creating art, community management, and level design. Also, students get a chance to see how the studio functions, plus try out new game content and provide their feedback.

Did you know that by the time the average student graduates from high school in North America, they have spent over 10,000 hours playing video games? Based on the research around expertise, we know that after 10,000 hours, you become an expert. This means that high school students are experts at playing video games. So when we bring a high school student into our studio, we are bringing in an expert at playing games. Of course, there are more skills required to work at a game studio than just being an expert at playing games. However, when getting feedback and suggestions on our games, high school students bring a wealth of experience.

I am sure that there are some people may wonder how realistic it is to get a job in the video game industry. Is pursuing your dream of working in video games similar to pursuing dreams of being an actor? Sadly, there seems to be a lot more people who want to be actors, than jobs for professional actors. This is not the case for the video game industry. Video games are a larger industry than Hollywood (sheesh, the revenue from just mobile games is larger than Hollywood's revenues, let alone revenues from consoles, handhelds and PC games). In British Columbia there are over 5,000 people working in the video game industry.

Further, if you love video games and would like to work in the video game industry, you don't need to move to another country to work in the industry. In Canada, the games industry employs a lot of people in good paying jobs.

Did you know that two of the top six video game franchises of all time (measured by total revenue) are made in B.C. (Need for Speed and FIFA)? From EA's studio in Burnaby, B.C. to Ubisoft's studio in Montreal, Quebec, Canada has long been a leader in video game development.

Why is Codename so active in this program? The simplest reason is because it makes us happy. We would have loved the opportunity to do something like this as a kid and I know that there are lots of kids just like us. Students can see what the industry is like and then use that information as they make decisions about what they want to do after graduation.

And sometimes we get the occasional student who surprises us with a thank-you gift.

Hi Whackers!

The Gorgeous Garden Contest starts today!

We want to see YOUR talented, artistic skills at gardening/art. It's super easy to get started, just start growing plants. When you've got enough, you can begin to lay out your designs in the event area. Once you've managed to get at least a D from each of the judges, you're golden for entering the contest!

How the Contest Works

When you're ready, talk to the photographer (he's got a yellow ! above his head) and have him take a picture of your fantasy garden. You can submit as many times as you would like, but only your most recent submission will get the votes. Each time you do submit a screenshot, your votes will reset, so plan carefully! Submissions will be accepted until *Friday, May 15th, 2015, - Noon PDT.*

You Get to Vote!

YOU get to vote too! The coveted 'User's Choice' award is picked by the Bush Whacker Community, and has a prize of 50 Bush Bucks! You can vote for as many submissions as you like, and at the end of the event the top submission as voted by YOU the players will be awarded the prize.

Changes from Last Year:

• Asking to visit the contest or the voting page no longer takes you outside the game; it simply loads the contest/voting page over top it! Finished voting? You can easily return to the event area by clicking "Back to Game" at the bottom of the screen. Easy as pie!


• Can't decide between two layouts? That’s ok! You now have a way to say "Next Please," and two new images will be loaded up for you!


• Tired of seeing the same layouts previously? We've improved the system, you should see the same layouts repeated far more infrequently now.

You can vote until *Monday, May 18, 2015 @ Noon PDT.*

And the CNE winners are...

At the end of the event, the entire Codename Entertainment Studio will review the submissions and choose their favourites, with 3 lucky players per platform being awarded prizes of 250, 200, and 150 Bush Bucks for first, second and third. All winners will be published in the blog when we've made our decision.

Start Growing!

Post questions and comments here!