A virtual farm turns new ground for game developers: farmville... not just for fun but business... 20100326 00:39

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A virtual farm attracting up to 83 million aspiring farmers monthly has video game developers scrambling to find ways to plough the booming popularity of games on social networks. ... Once-small companies like Zynga, Bigpoint, Playdom, and Playfish, which Electronic Arts bought for $400 million last year, are finding exponential growth by creating free-to-play casual games that encourage players to get their friends involved. ... "FarmVille," which has been available as an application on Facebook since June last year, involves managing a virtual farm by planting, growing and harvesting crops and raising livestock. ... http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62O1NB20100325

Upon beginning a farm, the player first creates a customizable avatar.[10] There are six plots of land, two of which are in the process of growing, and two (eggplant and strawberries) which are fully grown.

The game is based around the market, where items can be purchased: seeds, trees, animals, buildings, decorations, vehicles, and more land using "farm coins," the generic money of FarmVille (which is earned by selling crops) or "farm cash". (which the player earns at a rate of one dollar per experience level). A player can also choose to buy FarmVille coins or cash from Zynga. ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FarmVille