Anybody who has used Facebook for more than half an hour has realized that Facebook games are a common part of the experience. Many users simply choose to block these games from their news feeds because some of them update quite frequently. However, there must be something that keeps drawing people to these games, so I investigated two of the most popular games on Facebook: FarmVille and Mafia Wars. This is my journal of 5 days with these two games.
Monday 9:19pm
Unblocked FarmVille and Mafia Wars from my account.
Set up Mafia Wars account. Invited friends to “join my mafia.” “Did jobs.” Not entirely certain of what I did. Eventually ran out of energy. Not entirely certain why. At this point the entire game seems to revolve around clicking a button repeatedly until a meter fills up, and then clicking another button.
Moved onto FarmVille. Followed the introductory tutorial. Harvested crops. Planted crops. Was told to return tomorrow.
Tuesday 5:55pm
Met with a friend, Andrew Murphy, who helped me figure out the Mafia Wars interface. He introduced me to his strategy which is, “to add stat points to energy, so I can do more jobs and level up faster.” I learned about job tiers, fighting other mafias, and the inventory system. Despite knowing how to navigate the interface, I am still confused as to what different items do, and how they benefit me.
Tuesday 11:29pm
Played Mafia Wars, sticking to doing jobs, and fighting my friends. I lose repeatedly. I use up all my energy and stamina in about 5 minutes.
In FarmVille, I Won 30 coins in a raffle I never entered, and planted some new plots, with some wheat, and peanuts.
I am increasingly annoyed at how often I had to tell the games that I don’t want to share things on my wall. I did finally cave in, and shared on my wall that I needed neighbors for FarmVille.
Wednesday 10:18pm
Acquired a property in Mafia Wars. Game was running horribly slowly, so that’s all I did tonight.
Getting the hang of FarmVille. Visited a neighbors farm, and felt woefully inadequate when comparing the amount of stuff my farm to his.
Saw a polar bear cub available for sale for my farm. Not entirely certain why somebody would want a polar bear on their farm. I don’t think they contribute to the overall score. Scoring system of FarmVille is still unclear. I don’t know if I am winning or not.
Thursday, 9:33pm
Have fallen into a routine in Mafia Wars. Fight my friends, do some jobs, loot some houses. Rinse, repeat.
Unexpectedly, a staple of the RPG genre appears: Boss fights. This may be shaping up to be a real game after all.
Completed boss fight. Never mind. There is no significant difference between a boss fight and the rest of the game. This game is becoming tedious. I don’t even bother reading the text of the jobs I’m doing any more. It doesn’t matter whether I’m robbing a warehouse or stealing a car. All I have to do is click a generic button, and the progress meter goes up.
On the Farm, I set up more plots of peanuts. A quick turnaround which nets me a fair profit. I’ve filled all my plots with peanuts now, because they allow me to check my account once per day and maintain a steady income. Still not entirely sure what the purpose of the game is.
Friday 9:36pm
Decided to quit Mafia Wars. THis game is just not sufficiently entertaining to continue playing. Could not find a way to remove my account. Decided instead to simply stop playing. Unbookmarked the game, and re-blocked it on my profile.
Friday 11:54pm
Expanded farm. Added chickens and chicken coop. Decided to continue playing despite my experiment officially ending. I finally discovered how FarmVille works. It’s not about winning, or having a more impressive farm than everybody else, because it’s all subjective. I just need to make a farm that I am happy with.
In conclusion, FarmVille is a better experience. I didn’t have any of the server problems that I did with Mafia Wars, and the better graphics make for a more entertaining game. There is more substance to the game too. There is more choice than simply choosing which of the jobs to do next. There are choices to be made as far as which crops to harvest, and how the land should be used. In fact, the game is fun enough that I’ve decided to continue playing.
At the beginning of the week, I thought that both games were useless wastes of time that simply cluttered up people’s news feeds. Over the course of the week, I discovered that these games can be a good way to interact with other friends that play the game, and reconnect with friends that I haven’t talked to in a long time.
