Boat

The boat, also called the riverboat, is one of the sales venues in the game.

Players can complete boat orders for the townsfolk in exchange for coins, experience points, vouchers, puzzle pieces and leaderboard points. Orders take the form of crates players need to fill.

The boat is unlocked at experience level 17.

Repairing the dock
Repairing the dock costs 14,000 coins and takes 1 day and 7 hours (or 68 diamonds). Players earn 27 experience points for repairing it.

Once repaired, the dock looks like it is made of stone. As soon as it is repaired, the boat will come down the river and stop in front of the dock.

Boat frequency
Once a boat has arrived it remains at the dock from 15 hours to 17 hours and 36 minutes (to be confirmed).

Players can cast off the boat at any point during that time using the cast-off button if:
 * they have filled all the crates
 * no crates have been filled and players have not asked for help with any of them.

If a boat is not cast off in the allotted time, it will automatically leave once the time is up.

Once a boat has been cast off, the next one automatically arrives four hours later (not accounting for the off-game time; if players quit the game before the four hours are up the boat will arrive when they load the game again).

Players can make boats come sooner by spending between 1 and 5 diamonds or by using a green booster.

Type of orders
Orders are requests for crops and products players can grow or craft at their level, including products from machines they have unlocked but not built yet.

However, items from Feed Mills, the Mine, Smelters, the Lure Workbench, the Net Maker, the Jeweler, the Honey Extractor and the Candy Machine are never requested.

Requests appear to be random but always call for three different types of items, divided into several crates. The number of crates increases as the player progresses to reach a maximum of four crates per item. The quantity of items required per crate depends on how long it takes to grow or craft the item (see Goods List). The same items can be requested in consecutive boats. However, items that are made of the same ingredients are not requested in the same shipment.

Tapping on the dock when there is no boat lets players know which items will be requested next, as well as the remaining time before the next boat arrives.

Filling crates
Each crate must be filled completely with the quantity requested on the front of the crate.

Players can ask for help with up to four crates per boat, three of which any player can fill, and one of which only neighbors can fill. They can also use a blue booster to have one, two, or three crates filled automatically.

Crates flagged to be filled by any player are green and have an exclamation point inside them, and crates flagged to be filled by neighbors are blue, and marked with the seal of the neighborhood.

Once a player has flagged a crate they can still fill it themselves, but doing so does not allow for another crate to be flagged. It is not possible to "unflag" a crate, either.

Farms with requests for help are denoted with an exclamation mark (!) in the Friends menu and on Daily Dirt ads. A message saying "My farm needs help!" is, also, automatically posted to the neighborhood chat panel.

A seagull will land on the top deck of the boat to let you know that all of the flagged crates have been filled.

Rewards
Players earn coins and experience points for filling a crate as well as leaderboard points when they fill another player's crate.

Filling a whole shipment before the allotted time is up awards more experience points, a random voucher (whose color is only revealed when the boat sails off) and leaderboard points (the sooner the player fills the boat the higher the number of leaderboard points).

Special shipments can also reward players with a random puzzle piece, needed to unlock sanctuary animals. These display a puzzle piece on the dock when they arrive.

Leaderboard
The boat leaderboards rank friends and all players across the world according to the number of leaderboard points they have accumulated.

Leaderboard points do not have any real value in the game as they do not work as currencies, but they are used to get the 'Boat Score Hunter' achievement.

Events and achievements
Boat deliveries are tied to two special recurring events:
 * the 'River Boat Bonus' which doubles the coins awarded for filling a crate and the vouchers for completing a whole shipment.
 * the 'Riverboat Season' which gives players several rewards for completing a certain number of boats and participating in the event.

Boat deliveries also let players complete the "Stevedore", "Captain", "Co-op" and "Boat Score Hunter" achievements.

Strategy tips

 * MindoPod's guide lists the most requested quantities in greater detail than our Goods List.
 * Ask for help! It might be helpful to have as many friends as possible to help you complete these orders. You can add people even if you do not know them to build up a good pool of friends.
 * Asking for help will put an exclamation mark next to your image in your Daily Dirt advertisements. Advertise a common product and your advertisement will run for a longer period of time and more people will have the opportunity to come and see if they can help you.
 * Note that if you help someone fill a crate for their boat, you will earn experience points, coins, and leaderboard points.
 * Prepare in advance. When you send a shipment off, check the dock to see what will be required for your next shipment. It is most advantageous to complete orders before you go to sleep and put the items you'll require in your production queue overnight, if possible. You may also need to plant crops or set aside animal products to fill orders and knowing in advance will prevent selling these items in other ways.
 * Skip riverboats that you do not want or ones that will be too hard by sending it off before you have asked for help or filled any crates. Simply press the button you usually would send the boat off as if it were full. This can save time and not leave you waiting for a new boat.
 * Even if all the crates on your boat are full, you may decide not to send it off for some time. You can use the time to build up stock on various products to make it easier to fill the crates on the next boat.

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