SirePeteS said:

Please explain, in detail "do the rounds"???

Go to a location. Do any Hidden Object Scene (HOS) that is available. Most locations have 2 HOS. There is a cooldown period after you do an HOS when it is not available. If you click on it a popup will tell you how long until that HOS is again available. Move on to the next HOS and do that. If you go through all the open locations and do all the available HOS at each location that is "doing the rounds." Usually, by the time you have gone through all your locations the first ones you did will now be available. Doing the rounds costs you nothing but time. You gain coins, airship items, pet food, energy balls, and lots of other things. If you are low on coins - do the rounds. Low on airship items - do the rounds. Like everything in the Castle, this is not a requirement. Everyone has their own method of getting what they need. Read posts for suggestions, experiment, then decide for yourself what method you prefer.

SirePeteS said:

How does one get the gems? Private rooms, the only place to get the shards?

Hi Pete,  Gems are the blue diamonds. As stated by others, you can get them from feeding pets, clicking the morphing flowers, the wheel of fortune, etc.  Shards are the elongated blue gem you can get from clicking the flying butterflies in your private room, feeding pets, doing the HOS scenes, etc.  Hope this helps. Ada 

Thanks for the update, etc. Needed to make certain I understood how to get through in this game. Still learning and settling.

Pete, this was already mentioned, but I thought I'd share my experience.  I began playing a second game to record all the dialog and I wanted to play "on the cheap."  So rather than open all the zoom zones and HOSs, I just played the puzzles for the item.  For instance, in Level 60 one task says "Find the Tower Shield in the Flower."  Now the Tower Shield wouldn't immediately show in the puzzles; I had to close out the game, go back in and the Tower Shield appeared.  So I would play the puzzles for it. 

I played liked that all the way up to Level 61.  Then, suddenly, the wording of the tasks changed.  So instead of it saying "Find the Dragon Medallion in the Statue of the Thicket", it said "Explore the Statue in the Thicket."  That left me no choice but to unlock the Statue in the Thicket HOS for 10,000 coins. 

And to add insult to injury, I was eventually required to open ALL the HOSs and ZZs I had previously bypassed.  I was sick.

My advice, for whatever it's worth, is to play slowly and follow the quests, as given, in order.  With the upcoming Halloween Event, you'll be able to visit all your friends' rooms and play the HOSs there, amassing quite a lot of coin.  

Thank you, whitebutterfly54! Received constructively and as very sound advice. I hope others read-n-heed. Yep, admit I started attempts at short-cut. The beauty of the graphics in MC (I like them) is so great, I want to see what's here. Then, I reflected back on my early days in another game, ART, I was almost in panic-mode when I wanted to make progress and was stopped by lack of resources. As that game was dying, I had more than 5,000,000 coins plus many, many other resources ... with nothing I could do with them but let them go into the darkened night. I have plenty of time (recuperating, disabled Vet) to look, see & be amazed. I do get frustrated in this game when I click, click, click & click - go to as many as eight levels - then get stopped by time-out for as long as an hour. I don't control that so I realize I have choices, live with it and do something else or drop out entirely. Still here (at level 29 now)! Still learning. I expect someday I will be able to pass on wisdom and support to some other 'newbbie". Will do so quite willingly and remember all of you who were there for me at my start-up. With kindest regards.

“I do get frustrated in this game when I click, click, click & click - go to as many as eight levels - then get stopped by time-out for as long as an hour.”

I was searching for an answer for myself & saw your post.  If you look in your inventory, the last category to the far right is Amulets.  There may already be Energy you have earned.  There are also two different amulets.  One gives you a  HO Scene (Hidden Object Scene) no cool-down period for 1 hour for the price of 100 energy.  The second gives you a HO Quick cool down period (cuts the cool-down time in half) for 1 hour for the price of 47 Energy.  You earn Energy playing the game, but can only earn a given amount in a 24 hour period.  I forget the amount and don’t know if there are specific ways to earn Energy.  I have been playing for a few years but didn’t realize there was a rhyme or reason to the entire game until recently.

Everyone may have a strategy for using them.  I only started using them when I got into the higher levels.  Maybe around 75.  I used them occasionally for zoom rooms that required 2 of each item.  That way I could click on find and be taken to the HOS that would get me that item, collect the items and immediately go back to that room to try to earn the 2nd copy of the item.  With only 2 items being needed, I only did that when I’d get too excited about advancing.  lol. I began holding off because, as Susanna502MC said, by the time I would do my rounds, the first room I entered that gaming session would be open for play again.  Now I run into rooms that might require 3 each of several items.  I find myself getting impatient again and using them again.

Happy exploring!

Thank you for haring the news, etc. I will look into use of amulets. Still learning.

Hi MeekMonkey,

I saw your message and will invite Blossom.

Kae

Thank you to all those whom became Blossom friends.

I believe the amulets are earned at the beginning of your day and you get 20 every day when you play hoh. Im sure someone will correct me if i am wrong. Carly