| FarmVille | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Zynga |
| Platform(s) | Adobe Flash, iOS, HTML5 |
| Release date(s) | Facebook Friday, June 19, 2009[1] iOS Wednesday, June 23, 2010 [1] HTML5 Thursday, October 13, 2011 |
| Genre(s) | Simulation, RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single-player with multiplayer interaction |
| Media/distribution | Web browser |
| System requirements
For computers: |
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FarmVille is a farming simulation social network game developed by Zynga in 2009. It is similar to Happy Farm[2], Farm Town,[3][4] and older games such as the Harvest Moon series.[5] Gameplay involving various aspects of farm management such as plowing land, planting, growing and harvesting crops, harvesting trees and bushes, and by raising livestock.[6]
It is available as an Adobe Flash application via the social-networking website Facebook and Microsoft's MSN Games,[7] and as an app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The game is a freemium game, meaning there is no cost to play but players have the option of purchasing premium content. It was once the most popular Facebook game, however recently has seen a decline in popularity. As of September 2011, FarmVille is the third most popular Facebook game, behind CityVille and The Sims Social.[8]
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Upon beginning a farm, the player first creates a customizable avatar which may be changed at any point.[9] The player begins with an empty farm and a fixed starting amount of "farm coins", the primary currency in the game. Players also earn XP (experience points) for performing certain actions in the game such as plowing land or buying items. At certain XP benchmarks, the player's level rises. As the player obtains more items and progresses through levels, crops and animals become available to them via the "market" where items can be purchased using either farm coins or "farm cash". Farm cash is earned by leveling up or completing offers, or purchased for real money.
The main way a player earns farm coins is through harvesting of crops or visiting their neighbors. The player does this by paying coins for plowing a unit of land and for planting crops, such as tomatoes on it, finally harvesting them after a certain amount of time has elapsed. The amount of time it takes for a crop to mature, and how much money a crop yields when harvested, is dependent on the crop planted and is noted on its entry in the "market" dialog.[10] They will wither, or they will be of no use when a crop-specific amount of time has elapsed, the amount of time being equal to 2.5 times the amount of time taken to grow the crop (for example, crops which take 8 hours to grow will wither after 2.5×8=20 hours). However, a player can use farm cash to purchase an "unwither" to rejuvenate the crops or can use a biplane with "instant grow" to cause crops to be immediately available for harvest. Although the biplane can be purchased with coins, this special feature is only available for farm cash. As a player levels up more, crops with a higher payoff and economy will become available. Sometimes a crop will need a permit that costs FC in order to be planted.
A player may also buy or receive from friends livestock and trees or bushes, such as cherry trees or chickens, which do not wither but instead become ready for harvest for preset amounts of money a set amount of time from their last harvest. Trees and livestock cannot die.
Like most Zynga games, FarmVille incorporates the social networking aspect of Facebook into many areas of gameplay. Players may invite their friends to be their neighbors, allowing them to perform five actions on each other's farms per day by "visiting" it. Neighbors may also send gifts and supplies to each other, complete specialized tasks together for rewards, and join "co-ops" - joint efforts to grow a certain amount of certain crops.
Neighbors may also send gifts to each other in the form of mystery gifts with expensive, but random items, special deliveries with building supplies, or by choosing a particular item to send. They cost the sending user nothing. For FarmVille's 2nd birthday, a series of different mystery gifts were added to the Gifts Page.
Decorations can be purchased in the market for coins or cash or can be sent in the form of free gifts. Decorations include many items like buildings, hay bales, fences, nutcrackers, gnomes, flags, topiaries, etc. There are sometimes limited edition items depending on the theme such as a Valentine's Day theme, halloween theme, winter theme, etc. Decorations also give experience points (xp) depending on the cost. During the summer, Zynga releases an event called "The 7 Days Of Summer", where they re-release a different theme every 24 hours.
This expansion was rolled out on March 23, 2011 for players at Level 20 only. It is a secondary farm, accessible from the user's own.
This farm was rolled out on September 12, 2011 with an express ticket for 80 farm cash, and on September 19, 2011 for the free ticket. It is a third farm, similar to the English Countryside. There are exclusive crops, trees, animals, buildings, decorations and new quests. The Lighthouse Cove is a Fall Getaway and Coastal Farming Village.
Farmville and Zynga have officially released the early access to Winder Wonderland on November 28, 2011 for 55 Farm Cash as Special Train Ticket. Exclusive Challenges with special rewards awaits the VIP Farmers and have a chance to grow new crops, breed new trees, raised new animals and buy new buildings and decorations before anyone else[11]. Free access to Winter Wonderland has been made available as of the first week of December, 2011[12]. The Winter Wonderland is a fourth farm, similar to the English Countryside and Lighthouse Cove.
FarmVille released its first ever film December 22, 2011. It was a called A Very FarmVille Christmas.
FarmVille is getting its first television series that is set to premire in 2012 on Nickelodeon.
FarmVille has been criticized for being "almost an exact duplicate" of its previously released competitor Farm Town.[13]
In a December 2010 interview with Gamasutra, game designer Jonathan Blow criticized FarmVille for being designed to create an atmosphere of negativity, requiring an unprecedented commitment to the game, and encouraging users to exploit their friends.[14] In August 2011 a court heard that Adam Hamnett, of Greater Manchester was so desperate to buy virtual animals for his FarmVille account that first he robbed from a blind man, Brian McKenzie, and then murdered Peter Boustead when his friends threatened to report the matter to the police.[15][16]
FarmVille runs in-game partnerships where users can visit another company's farm and/or buy or receive items with their logo and colors. For example, as of June 9, 2011, users could get free McDonald's hot air balloons, McCafe products, and the ability to visit McDonalds' farm.[17][18][19] Other brand partnerships have included Cascadian Farm,[20] Megamind,[21] Farmers Insurance,[22] Bing,[23] and 7-Eleven.[24] FarmVille also offers engagement advertising where users can interact with a brand in exchange for free farm cash through an ad platform called SVnetwork[25]
FarmVille won an award at the Game Developer's Conference for the "Best New Social/Online Game" in 2010.[26]
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