If you're not familiar with FarmVille, it's not for the simple reason that you've just dropped off the turnip truck. The most famous application on the social-networking website Facebook, its popularity has amazed even its developers at San Francisco's Zynga.
The online game permits members to build an idyllic farm by growing fruits and vegetables, purchasing livestock and tools, and networking with different farmers - all without ever having to pick up a hoe or muck out a pen.
When it released June 19, FarmVille picked up 25,000 users in its first day, according to Mark Skaggs, head of the game's development team. Its cute, G-rated content now draws 21 million users daily and Sixty million monthly worldwide.
Skaggs believes the attraction is universal: "It's a theme that everybody knows around the world. And it's easy to play," he says, citing the Zen-like experience of planting plots. Still, the demands of a virtual farm shouldn't be taken lightly. Harvest times are accelerated for cyberspace: Strawberries are ready to pick in four hours, a pumpkin in eight. Overlook to harvest, the crop withers and you're out of luck. If all goes well, you can cash in your crops for FarmVille money and buy supplies and other goodies.
Zynga plans to keep the game fresh by adding "delights" (look for a spontaneous little black cloud that will shower farms with water, giving plants a boost).
As for his own farm, Skaggs just had a successful harvest of pumpkins and watermelons, but his strawberries withered. Perhaps it's time for another "delight" - crop subsidies.
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