CityVille Halloween Monsters: Everything you need to know

Last week, we brought you a sneak peek of the Halloween event in CityVille by speculating as to just what a ship full of monsters sitting outside your city could possibly mean. Now, Halloween has officially come to the game, and we've come to realize that this feature is far more in-depth than even I predicted.

As part of this feature, you'll now be able to manage two different kinds of population in your town. Your town has the original population and its maximum population, and it then has a "Monster Population" meter, that starts at 200 monsters. You'll be able to increase the amount of Monsters living in your town by purchasing Monster-themed houses, and can increase your Monster population cap by purchasing Monster-themed Community Buildings. Here's a closer look.

First things first, the game's user interface has been updated in the orange, black and purple color palette, and you'll be able to track your two levels of population in the bottom left-hand corner, as usual.

While the game's store technically looks the same, and your city can look the same as well (simply with themed buildings being added), you can also purchase a "Halloween Theme" for your entire city. This will change the land's color, roads, etc. to a dark navy blue color. Here's a comparison of my own town, for your reference. Unfortunately, this doesn't change the way the game's buildings look (like the snow and Christmas lights changed things back in December of last year), but it does set the stage for items you can purchase in the store.

Speaking of, you can find an entire Halloween-themed set of items, available for both coins and City Cash, under a new "Halloween" tab under the "Specials" section. Some of the buildings require you to have a specific Monster population already in your town (a Halloween Townhouse, for instance, is available for 9,500 coins, but requires 200 Monsters to live in your town), while another is a Business - a Blood Bank for Vampires.

All in all, I'm expecting the game's Halloween theme to expand a bit before the holiday proper, as there is currently a lack of themed Businesses, which is surprising. Still, there are plenty of items here to get you started, along with a slew of goals that we will bring you a complete guide to as soon as possible.

Check out the rest of our Halloween 2011 coverage right here.

What do you think of these Halloween-themed homes and items in CityVille? Are you going to make your city a haven for all kinds of monsters? Sound off in the comments.