What is it about Farmville?

The other day, my son Ben called, and asked what we were doing. I told him that his sister was hard at work on her math homework, and that I was playing an online game called Farmville. The poor boy thought he was in the Twilight Zone.

I have never played video games, much less online games. Oh, there was the occasional game of Pac Man and Galaxia when I was a teen, but I never really got into it. And I've played solitare on the computer, but not often. But now I find myself logging on daily, heading straight to Facebook, in order to go harvest trees or milk cows on Farmville.

For those few that have never heard of it, Farmville is exactly what it sounds like: an online game wherein you manage a farm. You are given a small plot to start with, a few coins, and 4 plowed spaces. You plant seeds from a limited selection, and wait. As you wait, you can send gifts to other players, and help on their farms. These gifts are in the form of farm animals, trees, and decorations, like fences. You become 'neighbors' with other players.

Why am I nearly obsessed with playing this farm game? For one, it feeds my gardening urge buy letting me watch crops grow, and most especially, have an entire forest of trees-apple, banana, walnut, plum, olives, and more. The game is customizable. Me, I love trees...so at least a third of my current large plot is covered in a forest. Others have a few trees squished together, and a lot of crop land.

The other reason is for the social aspect. I first got on Facebook because I discovered that many people from my church were on it. Many of these same people are now my neighbors on Farmville. It's fun to kibitz about the game. I often chat with my best friend Connie, while we both play the game. We help each other build barns, send Valentines, and help on each other's farms.

Now, I'm off to play Farmville. My chicken coop is nearly done being expanded to hold more, and I have grapes to harvest. And if you stop on by, I'm always looking for new neighbors!