Night and Day in Farming on Facebook

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My natural impulse in farming or in anything else, whether in real life or in a game is to choose the most beautiful item or option rather than the most profitable or practical. This can be a real problem in Farming Simulation Games on Facebook where real time controls your results. The most beautiful Crops may not be the ones that are most practical in terms of a player's real-life schedule. It took me awhile to realise this. Wishful thinking often overcame good sense where farming was concerned, whether in Fantasy Kingdoms, Lovely Farm or Farmville.

In Farmville, I tended to grow Morning Glories, irrespective of the time of day or night when I planted them. In Lovely Farm, I wanted to grow the most beautiful Crops and in Fantasy Kingdoms, I wanted to do the same. Time and again, I would return to a game to find my Crops withered.

In Fantasy Kingdoms, I solved the problem temporarily by restricting my choices to Crops that take at least one full day to mature. In Lovely Farm, where I am very conscious of a desire to increase my Levels, I tried to choose Crops that were fairly fast-growing while planting them according to a schedule that would allow me to harvest them. Even so, I made some errors due to wishful thinking. I planted Crops with a shorter growth period than 12 hours at night, hoping that I would be able to harvest them before they withered. I do pass many sleepless hours at night because of pain levels but the problem is that I am not on any specific schedule for that. Pain controls my ability to sleep and my time of waking. Sad to say, I wasted my energy, coins and time more than once by planting short-term Crops after sunset.

Now I have embarked on a rather schizophrenic 'planogramme' where, during the day, I satisfy my desire to create a 'Lovely Farm' in the patterns and varieties of my Crops and then, when I have harvested most of those in the evening, I replace them with the Crops that require at least 12 hours to mature, whether or not I find them aesthetically thrilling. So far, this strategy has worked well for me.

It occurred to me, however, that when Neighbours visit my Farm, their concept of me will vary according to their own schedule. If they are nocturnal gamers, they probably never will see the lovely patterns I enjoy most. If they are diurnal, on the other hand, they will experience the Farm as I like to see it myself.

The Daisies are the first true flower that one is able to unlock in Lovely Farm. They actually are Marguerites, the miniature blossoms in the Daisy family. In real life, there are many flowers I prefer to Daisies but I was thrilled when I saw my first Daisy harvest in Lovely Farm. They really are lovely.

Watch for an Interview with the creators of Fantasy Kingdom!

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In the brief period that I have been playing Fantasy Kingdoms, I have been very impressed not only by the creativity and graphic skills displayed in this game, but the attitude of Sneaky Games as well. The game is far more generous towards its players than any other Farming Simulation game I have encountered on Facebook and this fact, coupled with the sheer beauty of the game made me feel that it deserved to be promoted.

The people at Sneaky Games have been kind enough to consent to an interview about Fantasy Kingdoms so ... watch this page!

N.B. The screenshot with the Egyptian Pyramid shows one corner in the Kingdom of my Neighbour and Friend, ILuvHM.

The Wishing Well can be visited once each day by any player and will dispense rewards from 100 Mana to an actual Castle!

Creativity and Art in Farming

Crop Circles, where some force cuts a swathe through ripening grains or other Crops in order to create a symbol or pattern have been the subject of much discussion and even a film or two. Likewise, there are patterns in different locations throughout the world that can be seen only from the air and include both the Crop Circles and Nazca symbols. Ancient chalk figures in England such as the Uffington Horse and Cerne Abbas Giant can be seen from the ground but the best view is to be found from a high hill or from the air.

Oddly enough, it is when playing a farming simulation game that ordinary individuals can construct landscapes or patterns in a similar fashion. A friend of mine who played Rune Factory Frontier declared his intention to plant flowers in every field, including the dungeons, creating a landscape that would be extraordinarily beautiful. I sadly suspect he never had the time to complete this wonderful plan but it captured my imagination even if I never was able to find the time to do it either.

My first personal experience with creativity in gaming was a Level Creator tool in a PC game named Claw. With virtually no expertise in computer programming, I was able to create my own custom levels for the game. One could place bonus coins in any location for the Character, Captain Claw to reach. I loved creating patterns with the gold coins and in fact, wrote 'Freya' in the sky in almost every level I created.

The creation of any custom level was a time-consuming business and I doubt very many people even play Claw now. Nonetheless, I discovered some of the aesthetic pleasure in creating patterns with Crops in Fantasy Kingdoms, Lovely Farm and Farmville.

The Magical Crops in Fantasy Kingdoms are the most stunning and unusual and each has different stages of growth. The appearance of the Seeds when first planted is almost as beautiful as the Crop when it is ready for harveest. What surprised me, however, was the discovery that the Crops in Lovely Farm likewise have a number of different stages and are very beautiful at each stage. The Crops that are available at Level 1 are not the most beautiful on the whole and it is only when players raise their Levels that they can work with a number of different colours, textures and patterns not only in Seeds but in spouting Crops and Crops that are almost ready to be harvested.

I truly enjoy taking the time to plot out patterns on my field in Lovely Farm. In Fantasy Kingdom, I have become more involved in the magnificent buildings and decorations lately but aesthetics rather than cash flow always determine my choice of Crops there as well.

One can create beautiful patterns on the field in Farmville and indeed, some of the Flowers are lovely, but the game drives players to grow Crops in large quantities. The Co-Op Jobs and the Crafting (which requires Bushels that are randomly generated by harvesting a particular Crop) are all geared towards mass farming. It adds strategy to the game but makes it less of a Zen meditation exercise. I enjoy my visits to my Lovely Farm and Fantasy Kingdom far more for the most part, despite the addition of a magical carousel to my Farmville estate.

There are those who rake the sand in a Zen garden each morning and/or evening. For me, creating a beautiful pattern with Crops and Flowers has the same effect.

Farmville's Magical and Charming Option

I admit that I have been rather critical of Farmville and that, in comparisons with other, less commercial games on Facebook, it has shown itself to be less attractive.

Yesterday, however, I became aware of an Option that is truly magical but which, because of my own prejudices against anything ugly or aesthetically displeasing, I was not able to experience. The tale reflects very badly upon me but I will recount it nonetheless.

Within the last fortnight, I saw a posting by a Neighbour of a Lost Animal I never had encountered before. It was an 'Ugly Duckling'. I had encountered 'Party Ducks' and some other odd creatures such as the Groovy Cow but this was unlike anything else... The 'Ugly Duckling' was TRULY Ugly, with one enormous buck tooth hanging from its mouth. I did not wish to have a creature like that on my Farm and so passed up an opportunity for a magical and wonderful experience!

A friend of mine who plays Farmville DID adopt the Ugly Duckling, wondering if it would produce a Feather Harvest like the other Ducks. When it became 'Ready' yesterday, instead of an automatic Harvest, a pull-down menu appeared, offering him the chance to 'Transform' the Duck. Readers probably have guessed by now what occurs. The fact that I did not think of this when I first encountered the Ugly Duckling does not reflect well on some one who probably has read every fairytale and folktale in existence.

Yes, right before his eyes, the Ugly Duckling was transformed into a beautiful White Swan. I am kicking myself for not having adopted the Ugly creature, ashamed of my unkindness and envying my friend his acquisition of a glorious White Swan.

Birthday Wishes on Natsume Official Forum

A fan of Harvest Moon and Rune Factory sent me an email containing a forward from the official Natsume forum. She was delighted and surprised by the message which was simply to wish her a Happy Birthday from Natsume.

I wanted to share this because to me, it represents the attitude of Natsume and is the reason why I continue to volunteer to write Guides for Natsume games. Natsume never loses the personal touch, despite an increasingly heavy workload with all the new games that are being produced.

The philosophy of Harvest Moon and Rune Factory is one of placing friendship above financial considerations and selfish gain. In every Harvest Moon game, a player is encouraged to pay attention to the birthdays of all the other Characters in his/her community. It is apt really that Natsume should take the trouble to remember the Birthdays of the members of its Official Community Forum.

Bravo, Natsume, for embodying the principles of Harvest Moon in your corporate actions!

Farming Fanatics...

A Neighbour of mine in the wonderful game of Lovely Farm kindly allowed me to post her Facebook photo here. It is very apt I think for any one who plays Farming Simulation games, whether Farmville, Lovely Farm, Fantasy Kingdoms or Harvest Moon!
Thank you for graciously allowing me to share this!

New Option of Crafting Goods in Farmville

Despite my somewhat jaundiced view of Farmville, it does have a multitude of endless interactions with the player and constant interfacing with other players as well. Lost Animals, Pregnant Sows, a Farmers' Market that offers Bushels of the Crops that you and your Neighbours grow as well as Co-Op Jobs are among the Options that appear whenever you play Farmville. Unfortunately, the Farmers' Market and Co-Op Jobs can be experienced only by players who have increased their Levels of experience. I now have tried both.

Between the Co-Op Job Option and the Farmers' Market Options, I personally find the Co-Op Jobs rather tedious, even when a Neighbour assists. Essentially, what is required is that you grow enormous quantities of a single Crop within a limited time period. If you do not have machines to till the field, sow the Seeds AND harvest the Crops, you will be forced to invest a substantial amount of REAL time in the venture, with very little reward really. You can earn a Bronze, Silver or Gold Medal and of course, you will earn whatever income and experience your Crops produce.

For my Co-Op Job, I chose to grow 1500 Red Tulips as I love Flowers. A Neighbour and Harvest Moon comrade very kindly added his effortst to mine. In all honesty, without his help, I could not have completed the Job and in fact, he was the MVP in this labour, supplying over 60% of the Red Tulips for the 'Wedding' organisers who contracted with us for the items. Annoyingly, some glitch in Farmville forced me to harvest the last 200 Tulips TWICE. I had completed the entire job and indeed, had re-tilled a number of plots when the game told me that the game had been 'enhanced' and forced me to reload. To my horror, when I did, I found that the 200 Red Tulips had regrown themselves magically and had to be harvested again.

You can choose between a number of different Co-Op Jobs but it appears that they all involve a task of growing and harvesting large quantities of a single Crop.

The Farmers' Market, on the other hand, has been invested with a Crafting Option that might prove interesting. When it first was announced, I was asked to choose between a Bakery, Winery and Spa. I chose the Spa, thinking that it would involve Flowers more than other Crops.

Actually, I suspect that the Recipes in all three Crafts require a wide variety of ingredients. As in games like Rune Factory, you need to raise your level of experience before you can make more than one Recipe.

So far, I have made 'Fresh Sachets' at my little Craft Cottage and sold one to a Neighbour.

The Recipe for a Fresh Sachet is: 3 Pumpkin Bushels, 3 Cranberry Bushels, 1 Sunflower Bushel

What is interesting here is that you can 'buy' any Bushels you do not have from a Neighbour's Stall if he/she has them, which extends your potential to complete Recipes for Goods.

It is not as interesting as Grand Bazaar, or any other Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game, but it is a step in the right direction!

Later: The automatic option to make a choice between the three Crafting buildings no longer is given to players. I was rewarded by responding instantly with the gift of a free Spa, but now you must buy one or more of the three buildings at the Market. The Buildings are: Bakery, Winery and Spa. The three Buildings are available only at Level 25 and each costs 100,000 Coins, making me rather happy that I responded to the offer when I received it! You may not even see them at the Market if your levels are not high enough.

If you do not have a Market Stall, you cannot do anything with the option as it all works through the Market Stall. Now, at the Market Stall, there are new Menus that allow you to Use either Bushels or Goods or, when you choose Bushels, to Make Goods or Uss a specific Bushel as before simply to gain Mastery Points during harvests.

At Level 15, with a Market Stall, you can buy Goods now as well as Bushels from Neighbours. The 'Fresh Sachet' costs 1100 Coins. If you have a vehicle, you can trade the Fresh Sachet for Fuel. I was rather disappointed to find that this is the only way to use the Goods at present, although Farmville promises that there will be an option to acquire special items in future as well.

Harvest Moon Grand Bazaar

I received a test version of Harvest Moon Grand Bazaar today, so I shall try to begin work on Guides for this game at once. I will not be able to share any information whatsoever about the game at this point but simply would like to assure players that I will be covering it.

Please note that there may be some differences between this version and the ultimate retail version, so I may need to make small changes to any Guides that I publish when the game first is released.

Although I evidently needed a little break from serious guide-writing, there is nothing that compares with Harvest Moon and Rune Factory!

Attitudes of Game Creators Inspire Loyalty

I would like to believe that a good attitude and a good response by a game creator in the face of an obvious error would inspire loyalty in players while acknowledging that it cannot override the essential entertainment quality or value of the game itself.

Fantasy Kingdoms have experienced a multitude of problems in the past few days. Free Gifts would not transfer, players could not visit other Kingdoms and often a player would apply to the Wishing Well in vain... Three months old, they obviously still are working on their game, but I have to admit that their willingness to admit to a fault and to compensate their players is admirable.

A few moments ago, when accessing my Kingdom, I received a message:

'We are sorry for all of the Maigc Storms and Fairy Dust lately. As a part of the Kingdoms Loyalty Programme, I have placed a very special Mana Chest in your Giftbox.

Love, Harmony.'

Contrast this with Farmville's response to an even greater series of disasters for players yesterday. Where Farmville is concerned, players have lost Animals, Barns, Gifts and other Items. Items placed on a player's land have vanished (permanently it seems) and the only response AFTER almost a full day of problems was that 'Farmville is aware of issues with loading Farmville and are actively working to resolve them'.

I personally lost a number of Gifts as well as a Japanese Trellis that Farmville gave me when I completed my Japanese Barn. I set the Trellis on my land today, having read a message from Zynga to the effect that the problems had been resolved and it vanished into thin air. Clearing my cache and reloading the game twice did not resolve 'the issue'... I would be much surprised if Farmville gave its loyal followers any compensation at all, let alone compensation equal to that given by Fantasy Kingdoms.

The Benefits of Raising your Levels in Farmville

Players who are familiar with Harvest Moon or Rune Factory know that new options are unlocked when your levels of experience increase or when you complete specific goals. Although Farming Simulation Games on Facebook cannot compare with Harvest Moon or Rune Factory in their depth, complexity or the sense of satisfaction one obtains when goals are completed in HM or RF, there still are new options that are unlocked at higher levels and that can expand the game's scope enormously.

In Farmville, for example, you will find that the game will change when you reach Level 15 and have the option to purchase a Market Stall. With a Market Stall, you can interact with other Farmers.

The Farmer's Market

You will not be able to purchase your own Market Stall until you reach Level 15, nor will you be able to accept Bushels from other players until then.

Once you purchase a Market Stall, you can access the Farmer's Market through the Stall itself.

The little tutorial that can be accessed at the Market Stall gives the following information:

Each time you harvest a crop, you might find a bushel of that crop. When you find them, you get extra bushels for crop mastery! Crop bushes are used to speed up your mastery or XP progress, to unlock seeds that you can't yet buy in the market and to craft items in your Crafting Cottage. Coming soon!

Bushels you find are stored in your Market Stall. You can spend your bushels to boost your productivity on the farm! First click your Market Stall and select Farmer's Market, then click the 'My Bushels' Button, and then click the 'Use' button under the Bushel.

When you harvest a bushel, your market stall is set to sell those bushels for 24 hours. If you've mastered the crop, your stall will stay open longer. If you're already selling the crop, finding another Bushel will keep your stall open longer, too.

From your own Market Stall, you can see the Bushels your friends are offering. You can take up to 3 bushels from each friend. Just click the 'Get Bushels' button and start shopping!

In order to 'Use' the Bushel, you need to be growing the specific Crop and it needs to be ready for Harvest within two hours. Otherwise, there will be no effect whatsoever
Market Stalls are used both to store Bushels of specific Crops and to offer them to visiting Neighbours. If any Neighbour takes Bushels from your Stall, you will be rewarded. You can choose the form your Reward takes. You will be offered 10 XP, 4000 Coins or 15 Fuel. (?) Whenever you harvest a Bushel of a specific Crop, it automatically will go into your Market Stall and the Stall will open for business for 24 hours. There are ways to extend the time that the Stall remains open, but 24 hours is the normal time period.

Whenever you click on your Market Stall, you will have an option to access the Farmer's Market. Here you will be given the opportunity to see all the Bushels that your neighbours currently are offering. You can take three Bushels of any specific Crop from a Neighbour's Stall.

These Bushels can be used or shared with Neighbours. If you opt to 'Use' a Bushel that you have collected, you need to be able to harvest the same Crop on your own Farm within two hours in order to gain the benefit which is an increase in the Experience earned from the act of Harvesting that Crop. For example, if you choose to 'Use' a Bushel of Rice, you need to have Rice that will ripen within the next two hours and be able to harvest it before the time limit expires. Rice ordinarily gives +1 XP. If a Bushel of Rice is in use, however, each Rice square that you harvest will give you +2 XP.

Only one Bushel can be in use at any given point in time. If you have Bushels for more than one Crop that is ready to be harvested, you can use the corresponding Bushels sequentially.

If you have not reached Level 15 and attempt to collect a Bushel from a Friend's Wall, you will receive the following prompt:

Sorry! You need to get to Level 15 before you can visit a Farmer's Market and collect bushels! Would you like 20 XP from Farmville to help you on your way?

You therefore can claim a little reward of 20 XP even if you cannot collect the Bushel posted on a Neighbour's or Friend's Wall.

Garden Shed

The Garden Shed gives you the opportunity to save Flowers that you harvest to use as Decorations on your own land. If you love beautiful Flowers, you will enjoy this option tremendously. Unfortunately, the price is steep unless you have 10 Neighbours. On the positive side, there are no Level Requirements for owning a Garden Shed

The Garden Shed is described as follows:

Garden Sheds save Perfect Bunches hat you find while harvesting flowers. Use them to make decorative flower bouquets to put around your farm or share with friends! Your first Garden Shed comes with 10 rare bouquets as a special purchase gift!

The Garden Shed is a Building Item with two separate listings and prices:

Garden Shed
10 Neighbours Needed

Garden Shed
30 Farm Cash


The Co-Op Job is another advanced Option unlocked at Level 20. The third box at the lower left corner of your screen will change from the Delete Tool to Co-Op Farming.

Here is the description of Co-Op Farming from the game:

Co-Op Guide

A job is a task that involved seeding and harvesting a number of the specified crop within the time frame stated in the job. There are three levels of rewards in a job: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Medal rewards are based on how fast you complete the job, and give even more coins and XP. Gold is the most difficult of all but gives all participants a unique reward item.

To help on a job, find a job on the 'All Jobs' List. You must be firends with the job initiator, not already be on another job and the job must not be full in order to join.

If for some reason you want to leave a job, you can select 'Quit Job' at any item. If you signed on as a helper, your contributions willr emain but you won't get a reward when the job is complete. If you are an initiator, you can only quit a job if there are no others helping.

A new option that appeared yesterday but which has been heralded and advertised for quite awhile is the Workshop.

The Workshop Option

When my Character reached Level 25, the following Announcement was made, requesting that I commit myself to a specific Workshop:

Coming Soon!
Sign up now! You'll get an awesome Limited Edition item!

There will be three different Workshops as follows:

Bakery
Uses fruit and vegetable bushels to make pies and cakes

Winery
Uses fruits and grain bushels to make wines and juices

Spa
Uses flower and fruit bushels to make perfumes and candles

If you sign up for the Bakery:

Pumpkin Bread
Bushels Needed: Pumpkins, Wheat

Strawberry Shortcake
Bushels Needed: Strawberries, Wheat

Spicy Muffins
Bushels Needed: Carrots, Peppers, Ghost Chili

Pattypan Tart
Bushels Needed: Pattypan Squash, Onion, Rice

If you sign up for the Winery

Sweet Sake
Bushels needed: Rice, Cranberries

White Sangria
Bushels Needed: White Grapes, Sugar Cane, Strawberries

Red Table Wine
Bushels Needed: Grapes, White Grapes

Fruit Wine
Bushels Needed: Raspberries, Blueberries, Sugar Cane

If you sign up for the Spa:

Fresh Sachet
Bushels Needed: Pumpkins, Cranberries, Sunflowers

Floral Perfume
Bushels Needed: Raspberries, Morning Glory

Soothing Herbal Lotion
Bushels Needed: Aloe Vera, Green Tea

Relaxation Oil
Bushels Needed: Blueberries, Morning Glory

Although you can accept one of the three Workshops at this point in time, it appears that some work still must be done by Farmville before you can begin to use them. The Limited Edition Gift I received for affiliating myself with the Spa (mainly because I love the flowers in Farmville) was a rather frightening garden gnome.

Rules relatiing to Gifts in Facebook Games

There is some confusion among players as to the rules respecting Gifts in Free Facebook Games. The Games themselves sometimes contribute to the confusion actually and although many games share the same rules, some are different. Of the Games that I have explored, the Rules where Gifts are concerned appear to be as follows:

Farmville:

1 Free Gift can be sent to a Friend/Neighbour every 3 Hours. Other players have confirmed the time limit. If any one has been unable to send another Gift after three hours, please let me know.

Players can find items in the Market that have a 'Send' as well as a 'Buy' Option, allowing them to send items to Friends. This is different from the Free Gifts Menu, where ALL Gifts are Free. I expect there are no time restrictions on the Items that can be sent from the Market.

CAUTION: Reciprocating with a 'thank you Gift'. In Farmville, when you send a thank you gift, it will be the SAME item that was sent to you. When this item is one that you specifically requested and which may not be useful to the person who sent it to you, do NOT activate this option. Many of the Free Gifts, such as Materials for Building or for the Tuscan Wedding have NO resale value! If your Friend or Neighbour cannot use the item, it is worthless and prevents you from sending a Gift he/she might appreciate far more.

Free Gifts are unlocked according to the Level of Experience of the Sender.

There are some special situations in Farmville when specific Items that do not appear currently in the Gifts Menu can be requested by a Message on the Player's Wall or by a Request to any Friends who have not played Farmville yet. At least, this was my own experience when I needed Bamboo. Bamboo is one of the Limited Edition Items that is included in the Gift Menu on a cyclical basis. When it did not appear currently in the Gift Menu, I was able to make a Request to a list of Friends who did NOT play Farmville or at any rate never had sent me a Gift before.

The Gift Menu in Farmville includes both Items that are permanent and Items that are cyclical and belong to a special Category. Collectibles, Building Materials and Special Event Items are cyclical. In other words, a Harness and Nails may appear for two days, and then be replaced by Horseshoes and Boards.

Fantasy Kingdoms:

There is no time limit nor are there any restrictions on the number of Free Gifts that you can send to a Friend or Neighbour. As with other games, however, when you send a Thank you Gift, it will be the same item that you received. What is interesting here is that Limited Edition Items that have expired can be exchanged indefinitely if you continue to use the Thank you Gift option! For example, the Sunset Tree no longer appears in the Free Gifts Menu as it was a Solstice Item but if you receive one as a Free Gift, you can send one back as a Thank You Gift!

All Free Gifts are available to a player at any level.

Farm Town:

One Free Gift can be sent to any/every Neighbour or Friend every 24 hours. Gifts are unlocked by the Level of the Sender. There is a very interesting and useful option in Farm Town that does not exist in other Games, however, which is that you can EXCHANGE any Gift upon receipt of it for any other Gift that YOUR Level has unlocked. I love this option. I only wish this game had better graphics. It is the ugliest game I currently play!

Lovely Farm:

One Free Gift can be sent to 15 Neighbours or Friends every 24 hours. You cannot send more than 15 Free Gifts to ANY ONE in any 24 hour period. In Lovely Farm, the Gift Menu includes both Free Gifts and Paid Gifts. Some of the Paid Gifts are Items that do not appear in the Shop Menu and can be obtained only if some one sends them to you. It appears that there is no time restriction or limit to the Paid Gifts you can send to any individual but I must confirm this.

Castle Age

One Free Gift can be sent to any Neighbour or Friend every 24 hours. A special Gift that does not appear in the Gift Menu will be sent to any one who responds to an Invitation to join a player's Army. I do not think an Invitation bars a Player from sending an Item from the Gift Menu during the same 24 hour period, but I must confirm this.

Gifts are not level-specific but often are part of a set that must be completed before they will be of any use to the recipient.

Tiki Farm:

Free Gifts include Seeds as well as rather unique and rare Animals, including Penguins, Koala Bears and Kimodo Dragons.

Reviews of Frontierville, Tiki Farm and Treasure Isle

Facebook makes me think of Grand Central or Waterloo Station... there is so much going on at any given moment and much of it is activity by strangers or people who would be strangers anywhere but Facebook. I have 100 new Requests for Friendship, Acceptance of Gifts, Acceptance of Neighbour Offers or whatever on my page on a daily basis, a News Feed that tells me what other people are doing, with offers from their pages of Bonuses or Mystery Eggs or other Items as well as a host of game adverts in the column on the right side of the page. Many of the Games advertised on Facebook are 'Free' but many offer a free 'taste' of the game, requiring real investment if you wish to pursue the Game with any dedication.

A friend persuaded me to try a game called Tiki Island, citing her own dream to live on an island. Although I was juggling at least five other games on Facebook, I decided I would give it a try for her sake. It is a charming little game in its way, apart from one VERY annoying point: Whenever you play the game, a pop-up advertisement for ANOTHER game called Verdonia appears in the middle of your screen. I find this both annoying and rather incomprehensible. The prompt demands that you: 'Play Verdonia NOW!' Well, why would a person begin one game and, without having any chance to perform any actions yet in THAT game, wish to transfer to another game instantly?

Pop-Ups of various kinds are very much a part of most of the Facebook games and they always detract from my enjoyment of it. These games are programmed to treat a player like an idiot, but it's all marketing. You may be in the middle of an activity such as plowing or planting and quite suddenly the game will suggest that you 'take a break' to send some free gifts to friends. Is the game acting in a generous spirit to promote selfless giving? Not at all. By sending a gift to a friend, you are drawing that friend into the web of the game. If it is a friend who currently plays the game, the act of giving still isn't entirely selfless. With your Gift is a pre-written request for the Friend to send YOU a Gift in return.

Frontierville was recommended to me by a number of Harvest Moon friends as the game with the most to offer, including an option for Courtship and Marriage. I dreaded the idea of becoming involved in yet another game when I hadn't sufficient time to deal with Fantasy Kingdoms, Lovely Farm, Farmville, Farm Town and Castle Age... but once again, I was persuaded. In fact, it is the most complex of all the games I have played, apart from Castle Age. On the other hand, it is the most FRANTIC as well. The entire game is linked to various mini-games. The most frequently activated mini-game is the one that is triggered by any gain of income, experience or food. Whenever you perform any activity, whether it is clearing land, tending a Crop or feeding an Animal, you receive coins and XP and often a Food Item as well. All these pop out in the form of Items you need to collect actively by clicking on each of them. If you fail to click on them quickly enough, they vanish. I need to confirm this, but I believe that you will receive the basic reward for your action without clicking on the Items and that clicking on each will give you Bonus points. Nonetheless, it is a bit nerveracking for me, especially if you have moved to a different part of the screen to perform another task, leaving behind all of the Items from the previous action that popped onto the screen. I daresay that a lot of players find this fun. Perhaps it is the antiquity of the laptop I use, or the less-than-accurate 'mouse' it has, but I don't enjoy it very much. Furthermore, the endless prompts that appear on the screen to 'share' every small accomplishment tend to conflict with and actually impede gameplay.

I think Frontierville is worse in this respect than other games simply because there is so much going on at any given moment. In fact, there are some fundamental defects in most of these games where messages and Requests are concerned. Why is it impossible to accept ALL your Gifts at once, in the same way that one can perform actions towards a group of emails simply by filling in a box, then choosing an option such as 'Delete' or 'Save'? You could have an option either to 'Accept' or 'Reject'. The only game that sends Gifts automatically into your Gift Box is Lovely Farm. In similar fashion, why could the game not allow you to publish all of its messages to your Wall AFTER you finish playing rather than interrupting you every few moments? All of these games are in Beta still, but really...

Speaking of 'Beta' versions of games or online games in general, one wonders about the wisdom of making any 'real' investments in terms of money even for a player who has unlimited funds to spare. In games that are made for specific systems or platforms, a player can save and keep his/her progress without fearing that an outside influence will render it unusable or even non-existent. Where any online gaming experience is concerned, what control does the player have apart from the transient control exercised while the game actually is current?

I am most tempted to invest real money in some of the gorgeous items in Fantasy Kingdoms but apart from the fact that I really cannot afford to do so, I must try to remember that all of these games exist only at the whim of their creators and could be pulled from the internet at any point in time.

Once upon a time, I created a wonderful site on About.com with over four hundred pages of detailed erudite text and fantastic images. One day, About.com changed its policy. What had been a free site would become subject to charges. I did not have the sort of resources that would have allowed me to keep a site of that size on the internet so it was lost...

I have digressed badly from the topic of this post, which is to review Tiki Farm, Frontierville and Treasure Island.

Were it not for the annoying and I feel, unethical insertion of the pop-up to play Verdonia, each time you load Tiki Farm, I would enjoy the game more. It is an interesting variation on ordinary Farming Simulation games. For a start, you have to farm on a volcanic Island, although the Volcano is not an 'active' option as it is in Treasure Island. It simply is decorative and can be moved like any decoration.

The biggest difference between Tiki Farm and most of the other Farming Simulation games is the fact that Ranch Products and many other Items are VERY time-restricted. You have to feed your Cow Alfalfa (shades of Hero of Leaf Valley) in order to produce Milk but, unlike other games where the Cow will keep her Milk until you can obtain it from her, Tiki Farm Milk will spoil within five minutes or so! You therefore need to remain active in the game basically whenever you begin any activity such as fishing or obtaining Ranch Product. There are Crops that ripen in half an hour for example! The only other Farming Simulation game I have played that has Crops with a comparable growth period is Frontiersville where Clover can be planted and harvested almost in the blink of an eye.

There is a 'Lost Animal' option in Tiki Farm similar to the one in Farmville, although the Animals are far more exotic and amusing. My favourite is the Enchanted Narwhal, who will wander onto your Island. If adopted, the 'spell' will be broken and she will be restored to her natural form, which is that of a lovely Unicorn!

Free Gifts are very much a part of all the Facebook games and Tiki Farms is no exception. The difference here is in the nature of the Gifts, which are original and exotic. One that appeals to me greatly is the option to give a traditional Japanese 'Beckoning/Welcoming Cat' or Maneki. Others include Kimodo Dragons, Koalas and Bald Eagles. There is nothing mundane about Tiki Farm.

Fishing is an option in this game as well, which makes sense for a Farmer living on a small deserted island! In fact, any item that generates products regularly, whether a Dairy Cow or a Dock, is defined as a 'Workshop'. An item must be placed in order to generate product where any Workshop is concerned. If it is the Dairy Cow, the item is Alfalfa. If the Dock, you must bait the rod with a Grub. Having triggered the operation with the appropriate Item, you then must wait five minutes for the result. If you wait too long to collect the Fish, it, like the Milk, will spoil and you will lose 200 coins of income.

Both Tiki Farm and Frontiersville are more complex and potentially interesting than the other Farming Simulation games on Facebook in terms of 'helping' Neighbours. In fact, Frontierville allows you to hire Neighbours for specific tasks as well as including the usual option for the Neighbour to initiate the visit. In Tiki Farm, you can collect items as well as tending Crops (by removing insects and watering them) while visiting a Neighbour's Island. It is when one visits Neighbours in any game that one begins to see the scope of the game in terms of advanced Levels. Where Tiki Farm is concerned, there are quite a few fascinating Workshops at higher Levels.

I am not really competent to discuss Treasure Island yet, as I have not had time to play it enough to judge. It appears to require an investment in 'real' money, however, which is one reason I did not explore it further initially. There is a type of Sunscreen that is required if you wish to explore the Volcano. I do not see an option to obtain that Sunscreen without investing in the game. Apart from that, the game was rather enjoyable, combining a Treasure Hunt with Farming. You basically journey from island to island to dig for Treasures. Each Island has a different goal in terms of the Treasure Collection you can find there. It appears that you usually will not be able to complete a Set by yourself. For example, on the Island where you must find a set of five Tiki Gods, you will find only four of the five, finding one duplicate Tiki rather than finding the one that would complete your Set. You therefore must find a Neighbour to trade Tikis with you.

On your home island, you can farm. There is a Gem Tree that is rather intriguing. Gems can be used to unlock barriers and probably have other uses as well. I haven't explored the game enough to discover much. One irritating aspect to the game was that, having played it a couple of times to 'clear' three islands, I was rather upset when, loading the game again, it failed to recognise me, forced me to begin as again even to the point of making me take the tutorial...

I will play Treasure Island again if only to review it properly...

Finally, I would venture to state that Frontierville is in a different league from all the other Facebook Games. For me, the point of Facebook games is to entertain without forcing a player to invest too much time and energy into any of it. If I want to play a 'deep', detailed game, I will choose Harvest Moon or Rune Factory, not a game that I must play on my laptop. My controls are not that precise, for a start, and it is annoying when precise actions are required that I cannot perform successfully. I do not mind interacting with other players. It can be very interesting to see how other people landscape their Farms or Islands. On the other hand, when a Game tries to force me to 'spam' every individual who ever has contacted me, I rebel. Almost EVERY Facebook Game will ask if you wish to use your email lists to find new Neighbours. I never have allowed that option to be initiated. I do not consider it ethical.

I have been playing another Facebook game called 'Castle Age' but as it is an RPG rather than Farming Simulation game, I will discuss it in a separate post.

Lovely Farm on Facebook

Another fairly new game on Facebook that has caught my fancy, with its gorgeous graphics and its rather whimsical Items. I am writing a little mini-guide for this game as well.

Early tip: You will be strapped for cash in the early stages but whenever you visit a Neighbour, you can earn +1 XP and +5 Coins for each Crop that you water or fertilise. You will be given the option to water three Crops and fertilise three Crops at each Neighbour's Farm. If you wish to be a good Neighbour, therefore, you must keep a few Crops growing on your Farm.

I have created a little Guide for Lovely Farm. You will find it at:

Freyashawk's Lovely Farm Guide

Lovely Farm Guide on IGN

Comparison of 4 Facebook Farming Simulation Games

Having spent far too much time playing Facebook games in the past week, I now feel that I may have enough knowledge of them to make a superficial comparison between the four Farming Simulation games I continue to explore.

The four games are: Farmville, Fantasy Kingdoms, Farm Town and Lovely Farm. Comparisons will be made of the Graphics, Music, Gameplay Options, Need for Neighbours, Need for Currency and Complexity.

Of the four, it is Fantasy Kingdoms that gives me the greatest pleasure, but I have come to realise that it is not as much of a 'game' as the other three. It is more of an ongoing work of art in which the player participates. Like a Zen Rock Garden, it calms my spirit and gives me joy simply to visit my Kingdom, to revel in the beauty and magic of the Crops that are ready to be harvested and then plan the visuals of my next planting. It really is more about landscaping than strategies for making money, although it helps to make enough Mana to purchase the items a player likes the most, and the ones that will yield the most Mana for future purchases. Furthermore, if you wish to be able to perform MORE landscaping, you need to expand your Kingdom and that requires Mana and/or Kingdoms Cash. Fantasy Kingdoms has the most beautiful Music as well. It is pleasant to listen to the melody while one visits. As far as Neighburs are concerned, you really need only one in order to send gifts back and forth. Having more gives you the ability to visit them to perform tasks, earning Mana, Awards (Charms) and Experience, but in view of the fact that the game makes no restrictions as to the number of Gifts that a Neighbour can send, the need for Neighbours is negligible in comparison with the other three games.

Farmville is by far the most socially interactive of the four games. You ability to succeed is linked to the number of Neighbours you have, as you can obtain rare and interesting items if you are aware of the Farmville messages they post. There is a great deal of constant interaction between the game and Facebook 'Walls'. Game Feed is recommended for this reason. You can obtain bonuses, Lost Animals, Mystery Eggs and participate in Co-Op Games easily only if you interact frequently if not constantly with your Neighbours.

The music in Farmville is decent and it has excellent sound effects where the Animals and farming actions are concerned. The graphics are really quite stunning in their own way, especially where Limited Edition Themes and fertilised Crops are concerned. There is far more need for strategy in this game than one may realise initially. It is rather nerve-racking at times, to be honest, and the game itself lends its weight to this anxiety with almost constant prompts. Whether it is a prompt to publish an accomplishment on your Wall, to ask other players to Fertilise your Crops or to send Gifts to them, the stream of messages make the game a bit laggy and do not enhance enjoyment at all. On the other hand, if you wish to obtain rare and interesting items, you will be grateful for the fact that other players are surrendering to the game's prompts and advice to post THEIR achievements and experiences... Farmville really is aggressively social in nature and you must reconcile yourself to this reality if you wish to be able to participate in all of the options that are available.

The least attractive aspect of Farmville in ethical terms is the way it is geared towards real investment on the part of the player. The introduction of collections and themes that are very limited in time and their marketing forces a player constantly to resist the seduction of the call to purchase Farm Cash and/or Coins.

I foresee another problem in Farmville for any player who invests a great deal of time and energy in the game. The players who are at very advanced levels may have extraordinary farms, filled with rare and fascinating items but the clutter often diminishes the beauty significantly. Unlike Fantasy Kingdoms, where Storage is free and offered at the start of the game, Storage Buildings must be purchased or constructed in Farmville and the less expensive of these have the capacity evidently to store no more than two items. Recently, I obtained a couple of Neighbours who are very advanced in the game and although I marvelled at the variety and quantity of wonderful items they had, their farms were NOT beautiful in a coordinated fashion. Instead, they had corners on their farms that were beautiful but in other areas, the farms reminded me of the village dump. Animals in enormous quantities packed as tightly as sardines, all waiting for harvest appears to be a common feature in the farms of players at Level 30 and above.

In Farmville, new options appear only at specific Levels. For example, although I obtained an option to collect Bushels of Crops to share from a Stall, my Neighbours who were at Level 10 were unable to collect them. Similarly, when I obtained a Garden Shed to store bouquet of Flowers, the same Neighbours at Level 10 were unable to take any.

It is at Level 20 evidently that the Co-Op option appears in Farmville. This is an option to accept a time-limited Job to produce a single Crop in quantity. When you accept the Job, you can invite other Neighbours to participate in the task with you. If all players who volunteer persevere to the end and the task is accomplished successfully, every one profits. (I wondered previously why so many farms I visited were dominated by a single Crop. Now I know.)

Farm Town promises to be extremely interesting to a player who has the patience and determination to reach the levels of experience and income that will allow him/her to unlock advanced options. It is very much like Harvest Moon in many respects, although the graphics are almost horrible and the music is primitive (but not unpleasant). If you add a body of water to your farm, you can fish, for example, and there are many different varieties of fish that can be caught. Furthermore, as in Harvest Moon, the varieties of fish are location-specific. In other words, a pond will yield different types than a beach. Unlike Farmville, where you can harvest Ranch Products from Animals even if you cannot house them in appropriate Barns at first, in Farm Town, the Animals you own will be useless until you can purchase the appropriate housing. They simply wander about aimlessly. You can interact with them by petting them, but you cannot collect any product from any of them unless I am missing something critical here in terms of gameplay. I continue to play Farm Town only for the promises that the future appears to hold. I want to try the fishing option in particular... Without investing real money in the game, I initially believed I would have to wait until my Levels increased sufficiently to earn me the price of a Pond, River or Beach.

The optoon to store your Crops and to visit the Market do not exist at low levels of experience in Farm Town. I only realised this when I asked a player at low levels to test it. She had only the option to harvest her Crops immediately. Furthermore, although I have the option to till two squares at once at my current level, the player at Level 7 does not have this option yet.

When you have the option to harvest and store your Crops rather than selling them the moment they are harvested, you then can go to your Storage and choose to visit the Marketplace.

At the Marketplace, you will be given the option to sell any or all of the Crops in your Storage. You will have other options as well. Farmers will be milling about the Marketplace and they will ask you to perform specific tasks on their farms. I have no idea if these farmers are real players or characters generated by the game itself. In any event, I first visited a farm in order to harvest Crops, including Garlic, a Crop I have not unlocked yet. When I returned home, half of the Garlic I had harvested was in MY storage as well as having earned Coins for my labours.

The next job I was offered was to catch fish from the river on a player's farm. So, even without the money necessary to purchase your own water source for your farm, you will be able to fish if you go to the Marketplace and wait for a fishing job! As with the Crops I harvested, some of the Fish I caught (50% of them actually) were in my Storage when I returned home.

Lovely Farm is the game that has a true Harvest Moon atmosphere, at least for me. It is totally silent, however, which means that it has to rank lowest where Music is concerned, having none whatsoever, unless I am missing a control. The graphics are wonderful, although they are not in the same category as the extraordinary beauty of Fantasy Kingdoms. The Crops are large and luscious. Unlike any of the other Farming Simulation games, you must water your Crops at a specific point in the growth cycle. It therefore is more realistic and more like Harvest Moon where the farming option is concerned.

Lovely Farm has ordinary Animals such as Goats, Pigs, Cows and Ostriches, but it has magical Fantasy Animals as well. There is a sort of folktale quality to the graphics in the appearance of the Forest Hut in which you live and the furniture you can purchase. It requires more effort perhaps to succeed than a game like Farmville, simply because you must pay more attention to your Crops. The ability to obtain all sorts of items and bonuses from the Game Feed in Farmville does not appear to exist in Lovely Farm. This is both an advantage and disadvantage. The advantage lies in the fact that you can play your game undisturbed. One other quality that makes Lovely Farm different from the other games is the fact that any Gifts you receive instantly go into your Gift Box in the game itself. You are not required to access your Facebook page to wade through thousands of Requests to find them. There is a limit of being allowed to send only one gift per day to any Neighbours or Friends in Lovely Farm, but that limit is shared by Farmville and Farm Town as well.

So far, it is the people who made Fantasy Kingdoms who have shown themselves to be the friendliest and most generous. They appear to work tirelessly to add new items to the game, and always add one or two Free Gift Items as well as the items that must be purchased. Daily rewards in the form of Mana are given and emails tend to offer items of some value as well. I am very impressed with Sneaky Games, even though the name is a little sinister!

Fantasy Animals in Lovely Farm

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Lovely Farm is a slow-moving game in some ways, especially when it pertains to income. You can send a gift to a Friend only once each day, which makes it impossible to obtain much income by selling gifts or using them to generate money quickly. On the other hand, the graphics are really gorgeous and for some reason, remind me very much of Harvest Moon. The ability to send an Ostrich as a Free Gift to a friend at the very start was very compelling and added to the 'Harvest Moon' feeling I had.

Sadly, unlike Animal Parade, you cannot ride an Ostrich but it does lay eggs. Pigs, another Free Gift, appear to be rooting for Truffles, although I have not reached the point where I can 'harvest' any.

Crops are large and very attractive. A good strategy, if a player were focused on the game, would be to grow a large number of fast-growing Crops such as White Radishes in order to raise Levels and add to income as quickly as possible. Stupidly, although I did this, I missed the deadline for the harvest and they all withered.

This rings me to another aspect of the game that makes it more like Harvest Moon than Farmville. You need to water most Crops if you wish to be able to harvest them.
Like Farmville, however, you can help a neighbour by watering or fertilising THEIR Crops, although there is a limit of three portions of Water and Fertiliser and you are charged if you use them. It goes give experience, however. I have not quite discovered how often the fertiliser and water option appears yet.

What enchanted me today about the game was the fact that I finally had sufficient income and the required Level to purchase a Ranch Animal called 'Fluttergoat'. The Animals, like the Crops, are large and attractive. I did not know how large a Goat with Wings would be, but when I placed him, I discovered he was a decent size and absolutely delightful. I do not know what product he will produce but expect that it will be unusual and appropriate in some way.

The Fantasy Animals are defined as 'Seasonal' in the game which probably is the equivalent of 'Limited Editions' that will be offered only for a specific limited time period. Other Seasonal Animals available now are PorkyBees (Pigs with wings who are striped black and gold), FlyingCows (Black and White Cows with colourful balloons attached to them), FancyPigs (Pigs who have been painted with all sorts of colourful pictures) and finally, LadyCows (a Black Cow with black and red Ladybird wings). Of the four, I like the Fluttergoat best, although the LadyCow is rather interesting as well.

I do recommend this game to fans of Harvest Moon. Where Farmville has a rather impersonal, commercial atmosphere, Lovely Farms appears to have been created with real love. One expects a certain number of glitches and 'bugs' when a game is made by a smaller company... It is more discouraging to discover that a game like Farmville, enormously successful, is not only filled with glitches and 'issues' but does not have a friendly or helpful support system to go with them. From what I have seen on the Lovely Farm Forum, the people in charge of the game do make an effort to respond to players' concerns and problems. It is early days yet, but Lovely Farms has made a positive impression on me.

Fantasy Kingdoms Guide on IGN

A little guide I wrote for Fantasy Kingdoms now is published on IGN, although I created a page for the game as well:

Fantasy Kingdoms Guide on IGN

I still am extremely impressed with Fantasy Kingdoms. Although there are marvelous Buildings and Artifacts that require Kingdoms Cash to purchase and easily might seduce a player into investing real 'coin of the realm' in the game, they make it easy to play the game and to enjoy it without investing a single penny. Furthermore, I have been rewarded again and again for my interest in this game in the brief period in which I have played it. When the game was inaccessible, I received a Chest containing 900 Mana with an apology. I had not contacted any one or complained, incidentally, but the apology and Mana Chest (currency) were generated automatically. Yesterday, an email containing a 'coupon' for an Artifact, the Unicorn Topiary, ordinarily purchased for 2000 Coins, was sent to me. I contrast this generosity and concern with the unsatisfactory responses that I received so far from Farmville Support.

Although I love Fantasy Kingdoms personally because the concept and graphics are developed from a traditional 'fairytale' universe, I must make it clear that this game does not require deep strategy. It is more of a visual delight and a form of creative 'meditation' for me, in that designing the landscape of a Kingdom is sheer joy and dissipates some of the stress of my daily life. If a player is looking for a game that requires strategy, Fantasy Kingdoms would not be the answer. It is a work of art in which the player can participate and shape to his/her liking.

On Friday, I wrote: I am not certain if I will pursue work on a guide for Farmville any further, even though there is some strategy involved in playing the game successfully, as I am not entirely happy with a response I received from Zynga when they failed to deliver an item promised to me.

When I contacted them initially, they simply requested my User ID and the platform on which I was playing the game. When I sent that information to them, however, they then demanded a screenshot of the Carrier Pigeon message.

The Zynga response on Friday asked me to capture a screenshot of last week's Message from Zynga on Farmville telling me that they were going to give me Carrier Pigeons. The Carrier Pigeons never were given to me. Other players have received them. I did not. I am at a loss to know how I possibly could capture a message that appeared on the screen almost a week ago. It seems to me that as they generated the message, they should have a record of the offers they make to players, and it shouldn't be my responsibility to supply the impossible. It is a trivial matter, and I only post the issue here because I have been reviewing Farmville, along with a few other Facebook games, and this response reflects poorly on the company.

On Saturday morning, I received another email from Zynga about the issue. This one was from a different representative who apologised for the fact that I had not received my Carrier Pigeons and announced that they had been sent to my Gift Box. The issue therefore is resolved now. I still am rather disgusted by the endless hoops through which the first representative made me leap, and especially his demand that I perform the impossible, but perhaps he has received a little scolding from his superiors. I certainly have no cause for complaint in the quick response of the second representative and his willingness to solve the problem at once.

I therefore intend to continue to work on the little Farmville Guide at this point in time. Once Grand Bazaar is released, however, I doubt I will have much time for anything else!

Why Play Games on Facebook?

A question I asked myself and one that other players may ask as well is, with incredible games available for console, handheld and PCs, why would any one play games on Facebook that cannot promise the same detail or complexity? Why choose Farmville, for example, instead of Harvest Moon or Rune Factory?

The answer to this question for most people probably is that a fan of Harvest Moon or Rune Factory would not choose any Facebook game instead of Harvest Moon or Rune Factory. On the other hand, it is possible to play both types of game simultaneously. Rune Factory and Harvest Moon will wait patiently for your return, unlike Animal Crossing and most Facebook games, which operate in real time. If you neglect Animal Crossing, you will return to find that you must exercise some damage control before you can play the game with ease. In particular, you must deal with the Weeds that will have cropped up everywhere in your absence.

In Farmville and the other farming simulation games on Facebook that I have explored, there are no Weeds to clog your field, nor will any plot that you have tilled be subjected to the ravages of time and weather if you fail to plant seeds there for any length of time. You therefore can prepare your farm for planting and leave the game for whatever period you choose. This means that you can explore any number of Facebook games without committing yourself to any degree of attention unless you actually plant Crops.

When Crops are planted, they are time-specific and, if not harvested when 'ready' will wither and be wasted. It is a pity to waste Crops in any game.

One of the primary purposes of any game on Facebook is social interaction. If you use Facebook in order to interact with your Friends and Family or any one else, it becomes more fun to combine ordinary interactions with Facebook games. If you have a good friend on Facebook who is interested in farming simulation games, becoming his/her neighbour allows you to have more fun.

Neighbours are very important in a game like Farmville. You can play without having any neighbours, but you will be unable to reap the rewards of many of the bonuses and options that are available if you have Neighbours. The game really is geared towards the entire concept of social interaction as well as farming.

Having Neighbours is only the first step, however. You need to post your accomplishments on your Wall if you wish to help your Neighbours benefit from your successes. This is true of many of the Facebook games. It is a type of advertising, of course, but the games are free and there is little harm in it, apart from the possibility that Friends who have no interest in gaming may begin to believe that you are obsessed with it and do nothing else with your time.

You do not need to spend that much time on any of these games, however, in order to participate in them. That is the beauty of these Facebook games. Your investments in term of time and energy are under your control. If you log into Facebook daily, you can grow Crops that take 12 or 24 hours to mature and be confident of harvesting them before they wither. If you only log into Facebook every two days or so, there are Crops that can be planted that will not mature until two days have passed. Note that your XP gain for any Crop is linked usually to the number of hours it takes to grow. There are Crops that are equal in the time they need to mature but give different XP Gains. If you are seriously interested in increasing your Levels, you always should choose the Crops that give 2 XP instead of 1 rather than choosing the Crops that are most attractive visually.

Which brings me to another potential reason to play the farming simulation games on Facebook. I mentioned this in an earlier post actually. A player can construct a picture with his/her farm, whether in Farmville, Fantasy Kingdoms, Farm Town or Lovely Farm. You need not bother with strategies of profit if you would prefer to approach the game from an aesthetic point of view. I actually try to combine both considerations. My birth flower is the Morning Glory and I eagerly awaited the point in Farmville when the Seeds would be unlocked. Now I usually try to grow some Morning Glories on my field for the simple pleasure of gazing upon them. Some Crops definitely are more attractive than others. (Pineapples and Artichokes are among the less attractive Crops but they do give good XP and are profitable.)

I am wandering away from the point of this post I fear which is not to give tips about specific games but to explain the attraction of them in general.

The way many of these games work is by inserting random events periodically. In Farmville, one of these Events is the appearance of a 'Lost Animal'. When a Lost Animal appears on your Field, you cannot adopt it yourself, but you can post the information on your Wall to allow other players to adopt it. The Lost Animals tend to be varieties that are not offered for sale at the Market. Llamas, Black Sheep, Groovy Cows, Pink Cows and Party Ducks are some of the Lost Animals that the game generates. A player who is at a very low level can increase his/her Ranch population by adopting these Lost Animals but only if his/her Neighbours and Friends post the information on Facebook.

There are other little rewards and occurrences that can be 'shared'. When you collect products from your own Animals, you sometimes can offer them to your Neighbours, again by posting the information on your Wall. When a Special Event such as the Tuscan Wedding is in progress, these items may be ingredients that need to be collected in order to obtain special rewards. Special Events such as the Tuscan Wedding in Farmwille will not last forever. You can ignore them or participate in them. They are subsidiary to the primary purpose of the game which is to improve your Farm and your Levels of experience.

In many games on Facebook, increased Levels or other accomplishments result in Ribbons or Medals. This is one of the 'collection' option in these games. By posting the announcement of the award on your Wall, you can give your Neighbours an opportunity to obtain a bonus from it. The bonus usually is in the form of currency.

My actual guides for Farmville and Fantasy Kingdoms are posted on separate pages I created and will be published on IGN when they are more complete. For any one who wishes to explore Facebook games, however, I would imagine there are two general principles:

If you participate in the Facebook Community while playing the game, your success will be greater and you will have far more fun than if you play in isolation.

Have patience and do not rush to invest real money in any game. As in Harvest Moon, time and perseverance are your best allies in terms of increasing your own income in the game itself. Obviously, as these games are free, encouraging players to purchase currency with real money in order to obtain the best and most interesting items is one of the game's goals, but you need not be seduced by it. On the other hand, if you have a decent real income, investing $5.00 or its equivalent in the game is not entirely absurd. If you are a gamer, you can compare that sum to the price of a Console or handheld game and realise how it may be a way of supporting the creators of a good Facebook game. There are ways to purchase currency without sharing your financial details. It always it better to go through PayPal in these cases than to give any one access to your Credit Card or Debit Card information. The best players, however, are the ones who allow the game itself to generate currency for them.

Finally, these games exist to enhance your enjoyment of Facebook. Do not become a slave to any of them. As we all know, it is easy to become addicted to any good game.

Farmville on Facebook

As IGN appears to be interested in little mini-guides for Facebook games, I may create small guides for a couple of the farming simulation game. In fact, I have created a site for Fantasy Kingdoms as it is such a delightful game. Farmville is a game that appears to have wide popularity, and it has more details than I first realised, so I may write a small guide for that as well.

If any one wishes to play Farmville and be my neighbour, send me a Friend Invitation on Facebook but please add a personal message telling me that you are a fan of Harvest Moon and/or Rune Factory. I do not accept invitations from random individuals. I do not expect to know every one who wants to be added, but if we share a love of Harvest Moon or Rune Factory or even nothing more than a love of Cats, I am happy to add you.

After my initial distrust of the idea of owning a Cat in Farmville in order to be able to gather a 'harvest' from it, I now see that there is no animal slaughter in Farmville. As in Harvest Moon, Pigs find Truffles for you. You can harvest feathers from Geese without killing the poor silly creatures. My cat is only 77% 'ready' at this point, but a player left a comment on this site to the effect that you brush your Cat in order to collect. Calves likewise are brushed, although grown Cows obviously give Milk.

If I were to write a little Walkthrough for this game, my first suggestion would be to obtain a Chicken Coop as soon as possible. The options that are linked to Eggs are the most fun of all that I have experienced at this stage. Chickens who are not housed in a Coop simply yield Eggs, as far as I can see, but when Chickens are housed in a Chicken Coop, both you and your neighbours have a chance of collecting items known as Mystery Eggs. Mystery Eggs when hatched can yield rare Chickens, XP points and other rewards.

It is rather important to have at least one neighbour and if you have more neighbours or friends on Facebook who play the game as well, you will have far more fun than you would if playing alone. This is unfortunate in a way, as I always like to think that a solitary, isolated person could enjoy these games as well, but enjoyment is rather limited unless you interact with other people. One method of interaction is by sending free gifts of Ranch Animals, Trees or other items. As your income will be very limited at the beginning (why does this sound so familiar???), if you are given a Chicken or Cow or even a Pear Tree, you may be almost pathetically grateful.

As far as a Walkthrough is concerned, I do have a suggestion for other players of the game. Always till your soil even you do not have time to plant Crops or tend to them. This action can be very beneficial to your neighbours and friends.

As a player, you have the option to visit other farms. When you do, you first have an option to fertilise five plots. If no land has been tilled, you cannot perform this act. Furthermore, the NEXT option that will be given is the one that benefits you. If the farmer has a Chicken Coop, you will be given some feed and the chance to feed the farmer's Chickens. This is one method of finding Mystery Eggs. If you were not able to use all five bags of fertiliser on the farmer's field, however, the Chicken Feed never will appear. So my advice to players of Farmville is to till your land even if you do not have time to USE it.

Here is a link to my preliminary guide for Farmville:

Farmville Walkthrough and Guide

More Reviews of Facebook Games

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Reviews of Farmville, Farm Town, Fantasy Kingdoms, Castle Age, Castle and Co, Happy Aquarium and Yoville.

Having only spent a couple of days on these games, I cannot claim to be in a position to write an expert review of ANY of them, but these are my preliminary findings.

Of all the Facebook games, the Fantasy Kingdoms farming game is the most to my liking in its concept, graphics and items. As far as actual gameplay is concerned, however, it seemed that I ran out of energy sooner and with less accomplished than I did in comparable games such as Farmville and Farm Town. Unless I can obtain more 'mana' points, I will have to judge Farmville and Farm Town as better games. However, wonderful a concept or however diverse the items, if you cannot do anything in the game, it's all rather pointless. In fact, there are ways to 'earn' Mana if you can help your neighbours and if friends send you gifts. Unlike both Farmville and Farm Town, there is no limit on the number of items that a friend can send in a day. At least half if not more of these 'free gift' items are Trees that can be harvested.

I daresay Fantasy Kingdoms has not been as successful commercially yet as a game like Farmville as it appears to be a fairly new game by a smaller firm. The graphics are absolutely stunning and the concept of the game is fantasy-based with a mixture of real magical herbs, trees and crops and clever fantasy magic crops. Many of the medicinal herbs resemble their real counterparts but some of them are graphic 'puns' on the names. For example, Sunflowers when growing are beautiful sunlamps and Fish Tail Ferns appear with fish tails. There are other clever fantasy crops such as Eye of Newt that actually grows into a tall plant with an 'eye' as its flower. The game was out of service for a couple of hours at one point, but users were given 900 Mana points in compensation. A nice touch considering the fact that the game is absolutely free.

Although I initially liked Farm Town better than Farmville, I now have revised my opinion. Although you can acquire Ranch Animals in Farm Town at the very start, you cannot obtain any products from them evidently unless you build the appropriate housing for them. At the start, I was given a sheep and a pig. I did not want the pig, but was unable to sell him until I reached a specific level in the game. The best part of reaching that level was selling the useless pig! I still ike the fact that items sent as gifts in Farm Town can be traded for any item on the gift page that you have unlocked.

One of the problems with many of these games is the fact that you really cannot explore them properly unless you have 'friends' or 'neighbours'. The best exploitations are possible only when you have neighbours to visit, help and with whom to exchange gifts. I suppose that as Facebook itself is geared towards global community interactions, it makes sense that the games would focus on this goal.

Farmville became far more interesting when I raised my levels a little and obtained the ability to visit neighbours' farms and feed their chickens. There are 'Mystery Eggs' that you can obtain in this fashion. A Mystery Egg can hatch into a rare Chicken that you may not be able to afford to buy... It can hatch into XP points or other things as well, but I really was rather thrilled when one hatched into a Black Chicken.

I have not discovered precisely what it means to harvest an Animal such as a Cat and indeed was very reluctant to acquire a Cat at first because I was worried about the 'harvest' potential. As other Animals when 'harvested' continue to live happily on the farm, however, I am confident now that I won't be expected to slaughter my Cat when the 'ready' period arrives... What does one harvest from a Cat? Perhaps it is Kittens... Harvests tend to take the form of experience points so that may be the actual extent of it.

I am playing only one combat game in the form of Castle Age. Castle Age is fueled by LoTR concepts and has beautiful illustrations, but I suspect that the size of a player's army does matter and that requires that one recruit Facebook 'friends'. I rather dislike that idea. If some one wishes to participate, well and good, but I don't wish to push people into it. In Castle Age, Stamina and Energy are replenished in time...

Today, I read some FAQS about Castle Age, after making a rather negative discovery about myself and my ability to be corrupted into preying upon those weaker than myself. Many of the elements in gaming that I personally dislike are part of the Castle Age game. Although the Quests are well-written and illustrated, that is only a small part of the game. What you are supposed to do is to sally forth to duel against or raid other players, taking their money and becoming stronger by defeating them. When you are urged to go to Battle, you are shown a list of other players within a certain range of your own Level. You then can choose either to duel or invade.

A player of comparable level but with a large army probably will defeat you if you should challenge him/her. The players you can defeat in order to earn your daily allotment of points are those who are of slightly lower level with small armies or no army at all. It made me feel like a crass bully boy when I began to pick off the weaker players on the list in order to gain experience and higher levels. I did not like it very much.

The most powerful incentive the game offers is that you should increase the size of your own army by sending out invitations to your 'friends' or contacts. To me, this smacks of spamming your friends and contacts. When I explored the online FAQS for Castle Age, I discovered some one had written a strategy guide on how do ensnare the largest distribution list possible for your invitations to this game.

Whenever you are involved in a combat situation, victory usually brings money in the form of some of your opponent's cash and defeat means that your opponent bears off some of your cash as his/her spoils. The game offers a method of concealing your Cash by banking it for 10% of the total. If some one challenges and defeats you, therefore, that individual will gain $0 instead of making off with the carefully hoarded savings you had intended to use to purchase some decent armour. I then realised that the money I had 'won' from opponents probably was their life savings or a goodly portion thereof. I really was not terribly proud of myself...

Although I love edged weapons and combat has its appeal, I really do prefer games that are not competitive. The Fantasy Kingdom and Farmville games, although not as detailed or profound as any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game, nonetheless appear to be based on the idea of helping your friends by fertilising their fields, chasing off pests and sending them gifts.

Castle and Co. is another game I have explored. It has Candyland-style graphics and obviously targets young children to some extent. The basis of the game, however, is feudalism, precursor of capitalism. You are the lord or lady of the land and you build workshops so that the peasants can labour for you. Your job is simply to cheer them on. You never dirty your own hands by tilling the soil, chopping lumber, foraging or mining. Upgrading your workshops allows more of your people to work for you. Your workshops make money for you and you plough that money back into the workshops by upgrading them. One clue that this game was created not entirely for young children is the fact that you can build an 'Aleshop'!

Happy Aquarium is somewhat similar to Fish Tycoon which I loved, but Happy Aquarium differs in that it includes many mini-games where you lead one of your fish to find treasure in a time-limited hunt or through an obstacle course.

Yoville is the final game on my list. It is somewhat similar to The Sims in that your Character must find work and socialise with other Characters in order to succeed. Your avatar can chat with other avatars in public venues or offer games of tic-tac-toe to virtual strangers, but that is subordinate to the task of visiting your neighbours and working regularly at your jobs. Here, as in many of the games, the number of neighbours that you obtain is critical to your success in life. Without neighbours, you will not be promoted at work. Rather unfair, but there it is. At first, I absolutely HATED the Yoville game. A friend of mine sent me a gift of a Silver Chest in response to my gift of the same item. I then found I could not open it without a Silver Key. Purchase of a Silver Key was beyond my means or desire... Later, I discovered that a Silver Key can be sent as a free gift by a friend or neighbour, so it is not as diabolical as it first appeared.

In all of these games, you can post special discoveries or achievements on your Wall, allowing other players to glean rewards, adopt interesting animals or obtain items... but I find it rather embarrassing to post a veritable deluge of game announcements, making it appear as though my entire life is devoted to Facebook games!

What is lacking in these farming simulation games, of course, are the solid Characters and dialogues that are so much a part of any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game. If you invite Friends to become Neighbours, you could argue that they are the 'Characters' in these games, but most of the actions appear to be generated automatically even between neighbours.

None of these games can compare with Harvest Moon or Rune Factory but they can be addictive and they provide a clever bit of marketing strategy for all the advertisers who utilise Facebook. What they do is force you to log into Facebook for a start in order to harvest Crops that are ripe in a farming game or conceal the gold you have gained from the passage of time in a combat game. Once you have logged into Facebook, the battle for your time and attention is half-won... Yes, Facebook is a 'Community' and some of your real friends may be part of your Network there, but it still has the ability to waste hours of your time. That having been said, would any one like to sign up to enroll in Freyashawk's Army? (Just joking!)

Later: I have created a little page for a Fantasy Kingdoms mini-guide. You will find the link on the right side of this page.

Time Out for Facebook Games

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I first registered on Facebook in order to be able to view family photographs posted by a very good Harvest Moon friend. I confess I do not spend much time on Facebook, although I neglect to 'log out', causing people to believe that I am hovering there somewhere in the ethernet.

When I first arrived there, my friend sent me all sorts of invitations and virtual items. I didn't have a clue as to what was going on and sadly did not respond in any way. It was only yesterday, having seen a number of postings by different people about places like 'Farmville' and 'Farm Town' as well as some sort of Cooking game that I decided to investigate personally.

I therefore accepted the very old invitation by my Harvest Moon friend and attempted to claim the old 'gifts' she had sent... I downloaded a game bar for Farmville that does not work and cluttered up my browser with all sorts of Zynga 'apps'. So this is the world of apps that is advertised endlessly... Is it worthwhile to interact with them?

The answer, if one were to weigh REAL games like Harvest Moon, Rune Factory and The Sims, in a balance with these 'apps' would be 'No.' They are simplistic and lack any of the depth, humour or philosophy that is so much a part of the games I like to play. Incidentally, I explored a combat RPG called Castle Age at the same time, seduced by the rather lovely graphics.

I suppose, however, that these 'apps' are not intended to be compared to real games at all. They are not designed for uninterrupted concentrated gameplay. They are little time-fillers, a way to amuse and entertain oneself while one is multi-tasking on Facebook, having conversations with Facebook friends, 'creeping' on people or otherwise whiling away a lifetime online without really accomplishing anything. Places like Farmville and Farm Town give one a sense of DOING something at least, by harvesting crops and earning coins, even if there is no real depth to the experience.

All these games are free, by the way, but the entire purpose, disguised beneath cute graphics and offers designed in the spirit of universal friendship, is ADVERTISING. Furthermore, although there is no overt negative motivation on the part of the creators of these games, they are designed to give access to the players' personal information and details. I do not share my information on Facebook to any one apart from my friends, but Zynga immediately demanded access and received it as there is no alternative if you wish to gain access to the games they produce.

Basically, they ask you to promote their games by sending 'free gifts' to your friends, thereby introducing them to the game. There is nothing nefarious here, but it is marketing dressed up as gaming. You begin any game with a few assets and the ability to earn coins by playing the game, whether it is a matter of growing crops (Farmville or Farm Town) or working in a factory (Yoville) or embarking on Quests and fighting enemies (Castle Age). HOWEVER... if you are seduced by the superior goods that cost far more than you could hope to earn in the near future, you are offered an opportunity to purchase MORE 'Cash and Coins' with your REAL money, whether through PayPal or credit card transaction. Apart from this direct exchange of real currency for fake currency, there are a host of advertising offers from diverse companies, from Discover to Shoe Emporiums and Survey Groups, promising you game currency if you apply for a credit card, buy footwear or sign up to participate in surveys. Is this any worse than the adverts that clutter up the internet, forcing their way into your consciousness whenever you compose an email, perform a search or visit YouTube? I daresay it isn't and at least it is fun.

The interesting part of these games, to me, is the way they promote the entire concept of Facebook by giving you the opportunity to interact with your 'friends' on Facebook in a myriad of different settings. In other words, your friends can become your neighbours in Farmville, part of your army in Castle Age or neighbours and co-workers at the local factory in Yoville. Some of the interaction is generated by the game itself. Your 'friends' actually may not be online when they ask for assistance in raking leaves or frightening crows on their farms. It does give you the illusion that you are part of a community, however, and this may be comforting to individuals who live in real isolation or have few chances to socialise in the real world.

I never had much free time to spend on Facebook and I very much doubt if I will have time to work on my farms in Farmville or Farm Town or perform many Quests in Castle Age. I expect I have but skimmed the surface of these games and that there are more delights in store for a player who actually devotes many weeks to them. I certainly will try to visit my holdings in the Zynga universe from time to time to see how the games unfold, but I can't imagine that I will be doing so on a daily basis.

So far, of all the games I have explored, I liked Farm Town the best initially because you could plant crops and Trees and have both ranch animals and pets without being forced to use any 'real' money to invest in the enterprise. You evidently can purchase fishing locations as well in the form of ponds, rivers or beaches. If you receive a gift from a friend that you do not like, moreover, you can trade it for another one. With the fishing option, at first glance, it appeared to resemble Harvest Moon therefore more than Farmville, but in fact, I only have scratched the surface of Farmville. With respect to Farm Town, I don't like the look of my avatar much and the graphics in general are fairly simplistic, but any one who played early Harvest Moon games knows that satisfying gameplay is far more important than graphics. The incredible graphics that now grace any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game are simply the icing on the cake.

Actually, people who are experts at Farm Town have utilised the rather simple graphics in some incredibly creative ways. One farmer created his farm in the form of a turtle and another created the figure of a dragon in his.

Although the graphics in Castle Age are lovely, they are static rather than interactive, like illustrations in a picturebook. The game really appears to be designed for multi-player action, something that never works well for me, because I really do not have the time for it. You can duel against other players or work with them to fight boss enemies... My problem with this particular game is the fact that any Quest or duel takes energy and you then have to wait for the gauges to refill. Again, though, it is a game to play while multitasking, not intended to occupy your attention fully.

I actually played a couple of computer games that are somewhat similar to these Zynga games, although they had more fully-defined goals. One was Virtual Villagers and the other was Fish Tycoon. I enjoyed both very much and. They worked in real time as do the Zynga games and of the two, I liked the Fish Tycoon best as it allowed you to create a magnificent aquarium on your desktop. Both games required some effort and concentration, however, as death was an element in each. You needed to keep your Villagers and Fish healthy and happy. The Fish Tycoon ultimately was released on the DS platform but I never had time to play that version. One of the reasons I liked the game in the first place was the fact that it could be on the desktop of my computer, giving me joy as I worked.