How to Play Farmville

Farmville is an online game tied into the popular Facebook social networking platform. Created by Zynga Game Network Inc., also the creators of popular games like Mafia Wars, Café World, YoVille, FishVille and more, the game boasted, according to a November 2009 press release "65 million virtual farmers, 26 million of which play the game every day."

 

How Does Farmville Work?

Essentially, Farmville is a basic farming simulation game, but Zynga keeps the game interesting by adding new bells and whistles all the time to keep players entertained. The core of the game involves planting, harvesting and plowing plots of land, keeping animals and harvesting related products (things like wool, not meat), and collecting from fruit-bearing trees.

Farmville has a money system built on farm coins and farm cash, and experience measured in XP. Farm coins are pretty easy to come by, being earned when collecting and harvesting crops, animals and trees on personal farms as well as fertilizing crops and "helping out" on neighbors' farms. Farm cash is earned primarily when achieving increasing levels of experience, one farm cash per level.

Farmville experience (XP) is earned by crop farming, helping neighbors and placing items on the farm purchased with farm money at the Farmville marketplace. Neighbors are facebook friends show also play the game and agree to be a Farmville neighbor.

These are the basic components of Farmville (there are dozens more features to fill out the game for active players). It is entirely possible to play the game without ever spending a single cent of real money. But Zynga earns money when players spend real money to buy farm coins or farm cash to use on specific purchase goals. Many marketplace items are available only for farm cash. Either players can save up level by level until that amount is earned, need to spend real money to purchase additional farm cash, or simply forego items purchased for farm cash.

Why Play Farmville?

Almost everyone these days have an opinion about Farmville. Some are rabid fans and players, some are casual players and some strongly oppose the notion. Farmville-related topics are widely strategized and discussed in workplaces worldwide and have prompted hundreds or even thousands of web articles and sites dedicated to play. Farmville-related posts flood Facebook feeds, to the joy of players and often the chagrin of non-players (at least those who have not yet figured out how to hide application posts from their feeds). So why do users play Farmville?

In short, the game itself is fairly simple, and oddly satisfying. Plant a crop, watch it grow and harvest it. This is an experience most urban-dwellers don't have in real life, and those backyard farmers who do claim to find the simplicity and fantasy of quick-growing pest-free crops a fun diversion. Players can choose to keep it simple, or can choose to also engage in additional features of the game.
Farmville is also surprisingly social. Many of the games additional features require or offer opportunities for Facebook friends who become Farmville neighbors to help out farmers with various tasks and goals, and to share rewards with one another. Players often comment on one another's posts, ask for help, offer gracious thanks and even make new friends and neighbors through other player's posts.

Make no mistake, Farmville play can become time consuming for players who choose to take that path, or even become expensive for players who choose to spend real money purchasing farm cash. But many players game in moderation and keep the game free by staying within the boundaries imposed by that choice.
Farmville, like any game or hobby, can be a fun diversion and online social activity for those who choose to play. The game requires a Facebook account to play and can be accessed via Facebook or Farmville.com. Just getting started? Learn how to level up quickly.