Corrie Nation - I think I get it!

Last year I posted a blog entry about the Facebook application called Corrie Nation and how I didn't have a clue what I was supposed to be doing. Well, a few months later here I am at level 13 (out of 20 I think) with a "Street" that is full of houses, shops, businesses and people. How did I do it? I know you are dying to know...Here's a few tips on playing the game.

 - Some basics - the idea of the game is to build up your "Street" so that it is filled with houses, buildings, trees and Coronation Street characters. You do this by buying things. To buy things either click on the basket in the lower right of the screen, or click on the Kabin.
 - You use Corrie Gold (CG) to buy things with. Once you have bought an item, exit the Kabin then look in your "tray" at the bottom of the screen. Your items will now be there. Drag them onto the street to 'activate' them. Some items are extremely difficult to drag and drop, presumably because this is still a Beta version of the game. The pigeons and the tandem are particularly difficult but you can do it if you try out different spots on the board to drop them.
 - Your 'experience level' (XP) indicates what items you are eligible to purchase and in some cases, how much they will cost you. Some things stay a constant price, but some such as Characters increase in price as you go up the levels so you should probably buy a few while they are cheap.
  - When you first start playing the game at the lower XP levels its more difficult to make CG. You can do it in a few ways:
1. Collect newspapers, put out fires when presented with this option.
2. Get full marks on the Rovers Return quiz
3. As soon as you can, buy the Rovers Return to build up your CG supplies. Restock it with the fruit machine for 2 CG, and in 2 minutes time a CG symbol will be displayed above the Rovers. Clicking on this will give you 5 CG, i.e. you've made 3 CG in 2 minutes. With 5CG you can buy pigeons, and after an hour the pigeon will give you back 25CG. Do this twice and you have 50CG and can buy a character.
 -  Once you own a character they periodically "get bored" and need a task to do. This is indicated by a red outline, a big arrow pointing to their head, and a miserable expression on their face! When this happens click on the character, answer the question correctly and you will get 10 CG. This is good when you are starting up but, quick frankly, a pain in the butt when you are at the higher levels (see later).
 - Be careful with buying Pets - if you are not around to redeem the CG after the specified time, they will disappear back to the Kabin and you will have wasted money. Buildings don't seem to do this.
 -  Keep buying and redeeming items until you have enough money to buy more buildings. You don't need to keep any CG - you have to spend it to make it.
 -  every time you buy things you also earn experience points (XP). When you get enough XPs you go up a level. At each level there are more things available to buy, giving you more ways of making money.
 -  Tip - Buy the tree, this gives you 100 CG every hour and does not expire. The gift that just keeps on giving! Other similar items are the postbox, the flowers, Maxine's bench, the bus shelter etc.
 - There are many vehicles with a redemption time of 2 hours. Buy everything that expires in 2 hours, then 2 hours later claim them all in one go. Big Bucks for very little effort!!

 -  I have yet to see any benefit in buying the houses, apart from the satisfaction of building up your street. I cannot see how you get CG from them and they cost a fortune (10000 CG and up!).
 -  I have managed to lose a pet (Eccles) - I dragged him to a place somewhere behind a building and I can't seem to get him back. If I could only rotate the playing board I may be able to find him. Oh well....
 - When you start playing the game its fun to buy characters. However I would caution about buying too many. They only give you 10 CG a couple of time a day, you have to answer questions to get the CG. Its the same set of 3 questions over and over so it gets really boring. And its just not worth it to go through 4 clicks per character just to get 10 CG. I have about 20 characters and believe me, 80 clicks just to get 200 CG is not worth it. Better to buy the tree and get 100 CG per hour for 1 click!
- You can rotate some of the buildings. I don't know what purpose that serves.
- I've had trouble adding neighbors - I acquired one early on and don't know what I'm expected to do with them! Maybe it will become clear later on.

Well thats just about all I know. This is enough to get you started if you haven't played before. Go on! You know you want to!