Introduction
For this critical play, I tried out FarmVille 2: Country Escape, the sequel to Zynga’s original FarmVille. Also created and developed by Zynga, FarmVille 2: Country Escape is built for mobile devices (both iOS and Android) and can be played offline. Per the app store, this game is intended for a target audience of 12 years or older, due to “Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References” — I’m currently on Level 13 so I have not yet experienced this myself, but apparently you can unlock the Winery at Level 27 and craft some vino recipes! This seems like it was an interesting tradeoff the game designers chose to make: though the inclusion of these references raises the lower age bound on the game’s target audience, I definitely think it makes the game more exciting for older players.
Formal Elements
Players
The player dynamics in FarmVille 2 are core to the social elements of the game — here, the player interaction patterns would best be described as (multiple) players vs. game. Even though each individual player has their own farm, the social elements of this game (e.g. adding friends, joining co-ops, visiting each other’s farms and sending gifts) induce an interesting pseudo-multiplayer dynamic where players can level up more quickly if they cooperate and interact with each other.
Objective and Outcome
Construction is the primary objective, which might compel some critics to consider FarmVille 2 a “toy” rather than a game. However, I’d argue that the game encourages continuous “learning” via construction, creating proper game dynamics that keep the player at the cusp of mastery. That is, as the player levels up, the level of “difficulty” related to construction also increases — Farm Orders begin with the most basic order of wheat, but as players begin to accumulate more ingredients and acquire machines that allow them to produce more complex recipes, the Farm Order Board evolves such that the player continues to receive orders that keep the player at the sweet spot of challenge / learning. Other elements that promote this perpetual “mastering” feeling include Quests, which provide more structured goals to keep players engaged.
Because construction (i.e. creating your best farm) is the primary goal of playing, FarmVille 2 is a non-zero sum game, which is critical to upholding its social interaction patterns and encouraging the fun intended (see section: Game Aesthetics below).
Boundaries
The boundaries of FarmVille 2 are worth noting simply because they drive much of the game’s fun in abnegation / submission (see section: Game Aesthetics below). Contained in a single app on my iPhone, my farm is there for me whenever I want to return — I can leave the game for a few hours and when I open the app again, my strawberries will be ready for harvest, launching me into a frenzy of serving orders for which I didn’t have the proper ingredients before. The fact that the player can exit the “Magic Circle” and return to a state that is better than when they left is in itself a mechanic of the game that serves to retain players.
Game Aesthetics
Abnegation / submission is one of the main types of fun intended, and the game certainly delivers. I downloaded this game intending to only play a few levels for this assignment, but it is for some reason so satisfying to open this app and just totally immerse myself in my own little world — my farm where everything is in order and my only responsibilities are to bake delicious strawberry shortcakes. It’s the perfect balance of challenge to keep you engaged and mindlessness to keep you at ease. When you’re in the app, there’s always something to do — harvest ingredients, make recipes, deliver orders, sell items, etc. — but the amount of mental energy you have to exert is nothing like the real world.
In addition, this game also encourages expression. In addition to simply being able to create your own farm, players are also allowed to bypass certain “rules” of the game so that they have even more autonomy in how their farm is designed. For example, if you for some reason absolutely refused to plant a peach tree on your farm, you could just “dismiss” all of the game’s mechanics relating to peaches (e.g. “X” out of any Farm Orders relating to peaches).
Success
To be honest, I was originally a bit skeptical about how much value the social elements of this game actually add to the gameplay. However, I got my friend to download the app and play with me so I could explore the social elements. Once we both reached Level 7, we were allowed to connect our Facebook accounts and add each other in the app. I quickly realized that you really do get a lot out of the social dynamics — we gifted each other Speed Seed, which I used on my carrots. Worked like a charm, and in just a few minutes, I had my first carrot cake to sell! This earned me enough XP to push me through to the next level and opened up Grandma’s Glade.
Potential improvements
Despite my initial success with the game’s social elements (see above), I found that they still aren’t particularly amenable to people who don’t have an extensive FarmVille community. I personally don’t have many friends who play (and was only able to explore the social elements by begging my friend to download the app), so I wanted to join a Co-Op to have more outlets for buying/selling/exchanging gifts. However, the only one available was “full” and I didn’t have enough money to start my own — for me, this was a disappointing pain point in the game.
To make the social elements more easily accessible to players who might not have existing communities, it would be interesting to create some hardcoded Co-Ops that simulate the experience and offer the same gameplay advantages, without actually involving real people (and that can’t get “full”). Even though this isn’t true social interaction, this would still make the game more interesting and satisfying than playing completely alone and missing out on the inter-player dynamics.
