Aspiring local farmers, click away!

FarmVille, is a social networking application on Facebook, which was started in June 2009 by Zynga — a firm specialising in game development. Since then, FarmVille has grown to be the largest social game in history with a reported 60 million monthly active users.

The game allows players to manage a virtual farm, and engage in activities such as planting, growing and harvesting virtual crops and trees and  raising livestock for money as well as experience points.  Thanks to the simplicity of FarmVille, online farming is now a mainstream fad, taking in office workers, stay-at-home moms, children and their grandparents. Amin, a marketing professional at an multinational company (MNC) is a FarmVille devotee. When asked about his passion for the game he says that “FarmVille has a certain ‘stickiness’ to it because of the nurturing element involved. Moreover it’s both competitive as well as collaborative. I think that’s the beauty of it.”

Rubab, who has a high pressure day job at an MNC moonlights as a FarmVille farmer. She believes that playing FarmVille is a relaxing activity. She says that “although it’s all virtual, I take great pride in seeing the beautiful farm that I have built over the last few months.”

Fatima, a single mother, and a regular FarmVille player says “It’s a great break from all the worries of life.  At the same time you feel that by planting crops and seeing them grow you are doing something productive. At times I set my alarm for early in the morning to harvest my virtual blueberries.”

Despite its raving reviews, FarmVille does have its share of critics. Osman, a telecom engineer, admits that he did join the FarmVille bandwagon as his friends and peers were playing the game. “In the beginning the novelty of virtual farming got me hooked but later on I had to click the delete button. I believe it’s a huge waste of time.”

Daud, a father of two teenagers says, “I like the fact that FarmVille, as a game, has more educational value where kids are concerned. But I am worried about its addictive tendencies as at times the first thing my kids do when they reach home is to switch on their computers and harvest their crops.” Despite the criticism, FarmVille has changed the internet gaming environment and has made online gaming simpler and more accessible for the layman.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2010.