FarmVille Hack

If you're not familiarized with FarmVille, it's not for the simple reason that you've just fallen off the turnip truck. The most popular application on the social-networking site Facebook, its good results has amazed even its programmers at San Francisco's Zynga.

The online game lets players to build an idyllic farm by growing fruits and vegetables, buying livestock and tools, and networking with some other 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 initial day, according to Mark Skaggs, head of the game's creation crew. Its lovely, G-rated content now draws 21 million users daily and Sixty mil monthly worldwide.


Skaggs believes the attraction is universal: "It's a idea that everyone knows worldwide. And it's easy to play," he says, citing the Zen-like experience of planting plots. Still, the needs 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 dollars and buy supplies and other goodies.

Zynga plans to keep the game innovative by adding "delights" (look for a spontaneous little black cloud that will shower farms with water, giving plants a boost).

As for his own plantation, Skaggs just had a successful harvest of pumpkins and watermelons, but his strawberries withered. Perhaps it's time for another "delight" - crop subsidies.

Enjoy!