I am not sure either what thr critter house is for? Do you still get your XP while the snails are in storage? Or are they just off your village? And what do you mean it makes more room for smurfs? Smurfs only come when you buy one or build another hut.

Who said if you put your crystals in the crystal tower you would still get the points for them? That is not true. Any thing you put in the tower you do not get daily points for. So leave them on the mountain.
That tower was a waste of my time, as I now have to put all my crystals back out of the tower. Over 200 of them.