Pioneer Trail: Collect Trail Points to unlock Bart's Bargains

See those circular TP icons that appear after completing most every task in FrontierVille'sPioneer Trail? No, that TP doesn't stand for "toilet paper" (c'mon, I can't be the only one that thought it), but it instead stands for "Trail Points." These points are earned while on the Pioneer Trail (and only in the trail - not when playing on your Homestead), and they allow you to earn all sorts of new and exclusive items not available anywhere else.

Early on in your quest to complete Beaver Valley (the first section of the Pioneer Trail), you'll be greeted by Trader Bart, whose wagon needs repairing. After completing a mission to repair it, you'll have access to "Bart's Bargains," a new store that allows you to view prizes specific to the trail as a whole, and to each individual section of the trail map (Beaver Valley, High Plains and so on).

While we won't go into detail about each and every one of the dozens of items available (trust me, we'd be here all day!), we will give you a quick rundown of how the store works. Whenever you feel like you have enough Trail Points to earn a new prize, you can simply click on Bart's wagon to enter the Bart's Bargains marketplace. While you can use this menu to purchase Rations with Horseshoes, you can also use it to see the Trail Points required (thousands and thousands of Trail Points) to unlock various prizes.

For instance, the Beaver Valley section of the store offers you Beaver Arbors at 15,500 Trail Points and a fully grown Hickory Tree for 75,000 Trail Points. Once you've unlocked them, you'll use Prize Tickets to purchase them. There are plenty of items that require more or less Trail Points to unlock, so you'll just need to browse around each section until you find something you like. Also watch out for the many items that are quest locked, rather than locked to specific values of Trail Points. If you keep checking back with the store frequently, you shouldn't miss out on anything, which is just the way we like it.

Should the Pioneer Trail continue to grow with new missions and prizes in the future, we'll make sure to let you know, but for now, let us know which of these new Bart's Bargains prizes you're saving up for first? How far have you been able to travel in the Pioneer Trail so far? Sound off in the comments.