Special thanks to Kim (kimberlyah794) from the Addicts community for helping me out and writing this post!
Merry Christmas, Tappers! Things are certainly growing more festive in Springfield every day! Merrymakers getting hopped up on whatever is in a Hot Squishy, we have (or are working on) a Snowman large enough to block the sun, and decorations are keeping us all in the spirit!
By now, many of you have wrapped up the Effigy in White questline (or are close) with the Best Snowman Ever. A post on that will be coming up shortly.
Once you complete your snowman, Ned will realize it’s time to bake up “some similar-sized gingerbread-y!” Who knew Flanders could be so competitive?
Here are the basics…
Gingerbread Mansion
Size: 7X10
Build Time: Instant
Conform-O-Meter: Vanity +50
Placement: Grass/Pavement
Earns: 32 hats/8hours (at level 5)
What Does It Do?: Once fully upgraded, will earn event currency (hats)
Payout: 32 hats /8 hours
Onto more details….
How Do I Get The Gingerbread Mansion?
The Gingerbread Mansion is FREE and unlocks via the Can’t Catch Me I’m the Gingerbread Man questline. Turbo tapping guide is here.
This is a five-part questline, similar to the Effigy in White (Snowman questline). You will send groups of characters (Youngsters, Kooks, etc.) to work at the Gingerbread Mansion in order to upgrade it to its final stage. Once it’s complete, similar to the Snowman, it will earn event currency.
How Do I Level Up?
Well it’s pretty simple really. You have two ways to access your Gingerbread Mansion. You can tap on the event menu (remember you access that via the Santa Hat Trophy on the bottom right of your screen). The icon looks like this: 
See the second icon? That’s the one you’ll want to tap. Tapping “Go To” under the Mansion will take you to it (similar to the Monorail Event and the recycling centers). You can also simply tap directly on the Gingerbread Mansion.
Once you’ve opened the Gingerbread Mansion screen, it will tell you what you need to do in order to complete each level.
But we know some of you like planning ahead, so here is a quick rundown of each level.
Level 1
| Task | # of Characters Needed | Time | Payout (Regular/Premium) |
| Build Gingerbread Mansion | 0 | Instant | —- |
| Make Ned Think Big | 1 | 4hrs | $175/45xp |
Level 2
| Task | # of Characters Needed | Time | Payout (Regular/Premium) |
| Make Youngsters Clear Buildspace | 4 | 4hrs | 16/24 |
| Make Entrepreneurs Wholesale Gingerbread | 3 | 8hrs | 32/48 |
| Make Gluttons Chew off Rough Edges | 4 | 4hrs | 16/25 |
Level 3
| Task | # of Characters Needed | Time | Payout (Regular/Premium) |
| Make Ned Accidenatally Inhale Sugar Fumes | 1 | 4hrs | 16 |
| Make Dimwits Guesstimate Measurements | 6 | 2hrs | 8/12 |
| Make Brainiacs Measure Angles | 5 | 8hrs | 32/48 |
Level 4
| Task | # of Characters Needed | Time | Payout (Regular/Premium) |
| Make Ned “Accidentally” Inhale Sugar Fumes (x2) | 1 | 4hrs (x2) | 16 |
| Make Kooks Work Feverishly | 4 | 6hrs | 24/36 |
| Make Seniors Make Demands | 5 | 4hrs | 16/24 |
Level 5
| Task | # of Characters Needed | Time | Payout (Regular/Premium) |
| Make Gluttons Dispose of Excess Materials | 4 | 8hrs | 32/48 |
| Make High Rollers Apperciate the Extravagance | 3 | 4hrs | 16/24 |
| Make Pessimists Admit Defeat | 4 | 4hrs | 16/24 |
Each character will earn hats when they complete their tasks, so sending all possible characters will earn you the most hats. As always, premium characters (not premium skins) earn at a higher rate. As some of you have noted with Sherri and Terri and the Hot Squishee Stand, right now they are not earning at a higher-than-normal premium rate for event tasks. Not sure why that is, but it’s how EA has set up the event.
Here are the characters that could potentially be sent on tasks:
| Dimwits | Brainiacs | Gluttons |
| Barbarian | Cecil Terwilliger | Barney |
| Barney | Comic Book Guy | Chief Wiggum |
| Chester Dupree | Crazy Cat Lady | Comic Book Guy |
| Chief Wiggum | Database | Homer |
| Cletus | Dr. Hibbert | Mayor Quimby |
| Dr. Nick | Hank Scorpio | Space Mutant |
| Duffman | Lisa | |
| Grampa Simpson | Martin | |
| Homer | Principal Skinner | |
| Lenny | Prof. Frink | |
| Otto | Sideshow Bob | |
| Ralph | Sideshow Mel | |
| Sea Captain | ||
| Wolfcastle |
| Entrepreneurs | Pessimists | High Rollers |
| Akira | Agnes Skinner | Bernice Hibbert |
| Apu | Arnie Pye | Fat Tony |
| Artie Ziff | Chester Lampwick | Hank Scorpio |
| Belle | Comic Book Guy | Kent Brockman |
| Cecil Terwilliger | Dolph | Krusty |
| Comic Book Guy | Grampa Simpson | Martha Quimby |
| Fat Tony | Hugs Bunny | Mayor Quimby |
| Giuseppe | Jasper | Mr. Burns |
| Herman | Moe | Mr. Costington |
| Lugash | Mrs. Krabappel | Roger Meyers Jr. |
| Luigi | Patty | Stacy Lowell |
| Moe | Rev. Lovejoy | The Rich Texan |
| Mr. Burns | Roger Meyers Jr. | Wolfcastle |
| Roger Meyers Jr. | Selma | |
| The Rich Texan | Willie | |
| Tribal Chief |
| Youngsters | Kooks | Seniors |
| Bart | Apu | Abraham Lincoln |
| Database | Brandine | Agnes Skinner |
| Dolph | Bumblebee Man | Chalmers |
| Gino Underdunk Terwilliger | Cecil Terwilliger | Chester Lampwick |
| Greta Wolfcastle | Chester Lampwick | Giuseppe |
| Hugo | Cletus | Grampa Simpson |
| Janey | Crazy Cat Lady | Hans Moleman |
| Jessica Lovejoy | Disco Stu | Hans Moleman |
| Jimbo | Frink | Jasper |
| Lisa | Gino Underdunk Terwilliger | Judge Snyder |
| Martin | Hans Moleman | Kent Brockman |
| Michael D’Amico | Herman | Mr. Burns |
| Milhouse | Hugs Bunny | Mrs. Bouvier |
| Nelson | Kang | Ned Flanders |
| Ralph | Kodos | Stacy Lowell |
| Rod | Krusty | Suzanne The Witch |
| Sherri and Terri | Lurleen | Tom O’Flanagan |
| Squeaky Voice Teen | Otto | |
| Todd | Ralph | |
| Uter | Rod | |
| Sea Captain | ||
| Shary Bobbins | ||
| Sideshow Bob | ||
| The Yes Guy | ||
| Todd | ||
| Willie |
Keep in mind that not all characters from each group will be permitted to do the tasks. EA has set it up so only a limited number characters from each category can go.
Once you’ve completed all of the levels, you will have earned a total of 6810 hats. In addition, the fully upgraded Mansion will earn 32 hats every 8 hours. We don’t yet know if it will earn money after the event is over. We’ll find out when it happens.
Here’s what the fully upgraded Mansion will look like:
Once the Mansion is fully upgraded, you will also be able to select your favorite façade.
Is the Grind Worth It?
YES! You will receive 6810 hats just for upgrading and that figure doesn’t even include how much you will earn for sending characters on their tasks at the Mansion.
Strategies to Maximize the Hat Payout
If you want to maximize the hat payout you get from the characters completing the levels, you can stagger how you send them out, allowing you to send some of them more than one time. For example, the task “Make Youngsters Clear Buildspace” requires four characters to complete, but allows you to send seven characters. If you send three characters, instead of the available seven, then when the initial three are done, you can send all seven to complete the task. This would allow you to complete the task total of ten times instead of only seven (assuming you have all of the characters in your game). AND, if you send the premium character(s) on tasks twice, you will earn even more hats.
This strategy is certainly not right for everyone because it will take you longer to complete each level, particularly the tasks that are 6 or 8 hours, effectively doubling the length of each task. But if you are able to be in your game frequently or don’t have all of the characters, this might be a good strategy. Of course, if you are in your game frequently, you may not need to utilize this strategy because you may have no problem earning hats. Remember you’ll earn bonuts if you finish all the prizes before Act 1 ends…
And that my friends concludes the details on the Gingerbread Mansion!
What are your thoughts on the Gingerbread Mansion? Do you have a favorite façade? What do you think about it? Sound off in the comments below, you know we love hearing from you!
Special thanks again to Kim (kimberlyah794) for helping me out and writing this post!