As there are just a few days left to purchase the Chinese New Year themed items in CastleVille's store, what better way to encourage users to purchase them than by offering a contest that will see the first prize winner walking away with 200 Crowns and some in-game fame? That's exactly what's happening on the CastleVille forums this week, as the Chinese New Year Kingdom Contest is going on now, asking you to decorate your Kingdom using Chinese New Year themed items, along with other items that you feel really make your Kingdom "pop."

The CastleVille development team will choose the top ten, and then users will receive a survey to vote for their absolute favorite. The Winner, announced around February 5, will receive 200 Crowns (the game's premium currency), and will have their image posted on the game's fan page for all to see (and admire, of course). Two additional winners (that is, two more players of the top ten) will be picked at random to receive 40 Crowns, so there is no traditional "Second" or "Third" place here.

Unfortunately, many users have claimed that these sorts of contests are popularity contests among the entrants, rather than true tests of each entrant's entry, but perhaps CastleVille is still so new that any sort of mob mentality hasn't broken through yet. Either way, the contest is free to enter, and with that many Crowns at stake, I think it's worth taking a shot at it, don't you?