FarmVille 2: Country Escape — A Critical Play
FarmVille 2: Country Escape is a farming simulator based on the original FarmVille which was released in 2009 by Zynga. FarmVille 2: Country Escape is the mobile app version of FarmVille 2.
I’ve been playing FarmVille on my iPhone and sometimes my iPad, and I can definitely say that I’m happily addicted to it. :)
Let’s get down some of the basics.
Name of the Game: FarmVille 2: Country Escape
Created by: Zynga
Platform: Mobile App
Target Audience: Young Adults
Notable Elements:
- Everything takes time to grow but the amount of time starts out so small (10–30 seconds) that it gives you just enough anticipation to get a pleasant dose of dopamine.
- If you’re willing to be patient, you don’t need to purchase keys. However, the game plays on human impatience to generate income.
- Keys speed things up but are difficult to get in large quantities without paying for them with real money. Coins are easy to earn and allow you to buy most items. Getting to 1,000,000 coins is a common occurance.
- Co-ops and FarmVille Friends help you progress faster in the game but they aren’t necessary.
- As you progress, new elements unlock including recipes in places you have already built like the Dairy. Rather than having all of them listed when you purchase the item, they appear as you get close to unlocking them. For example, Lemon Yogurt unlocks at level 21. I’m currently level 20 so it appeared on my recipe list. This encourages you to keep going without overwhelming you with how new you are.
Important Formal Elements:
- The main aspect of the game has no conflict. At least not yet.
- There are lots of different types of resources. Coins are earned, keys are bought or earned, water is taken from the river, and ingredients are farmed and processed.
- The boundaries of both the game and your farm are quite clear. The game boundaries literally change to a background at the edge and your farm boundary is shown by tended vs untended to grass.
- The rules are pretty simple. Make stuff and wait. Because it’s a digital game there isn’t an obvious way to cheat unless you’re really trying aka uploading a cheat you found online.
- The objective is more a fuzzy topic. We’re told at the beginning that this is your family’s farm and you’re coming back to take care of it. The very first thing we do is fix the house and barn. Apart from “running a farm” there doesn’t seem to be any other objective.
Type of Fun Intended: Social sandbox. A world building game with an element of camaraderie.
Is it fun?: Yes! I’ve been enjoying it immensely. However, I do sometimes start to wonder, why I’m doing this? Why am I so invested in growing these things just to sell them on a message board? But then I bake a cake and level up and forget about my existential dilemma.
Is it a game or a toy?: Hmm… That’s a good question. There are definitely games within it. For example, the County Fair is a competition which I would consider a type of game. I believe there is also a boat racing aspect that unlocks later which would definitely be a game. However, the actual farming aspect is more of a toy than a game. There is no winning or losing or challenge. It is simply creating and selling. Perhaps this is where my existential dilemma comes from.
Moments of Note
There are always some stand out moments in any game you play. Here are some of mine for my first five days of playing FarmVille 2: Country Escape.
Particular Successes
One major success is how I completely dominated the County Fair as soon as I unlocked it. Within a few hours, I was in first place by almost 4x. Now I just need to make sure I hold that lead for three days.
Epic Failures
My epic fail is definitely how I managed to get kicked out of three co-ops. I honestly have no idea why I kept getting kicked out. I think the first one was because I didn’t have a profile picture. But by the second one, I had connected to FaceBook so I should have had a photo. I even sent people Helping Hands (a farm hand to help tend to their farm). Maybe I was just too low level and they didn’t want me in their group. Sigh…
Changes?
Many of the changes I have in mind are small, simple detail changes. I think the overall game is very well structured and enjoyable.
- Make the objects rotatable. All the items and animals have only one orientation and while this has absolutely no baring on playability, it really annoys me that I can’t align everything exactly as I want them.
- Explain exactly how the monthly key subscription deal works. Do I get 212 keys now? Or are those coming to me in sets of 53 each week?
- Lower the wait time for the shovels. Eight hours is too long when you need three of them to clear a log.
- Lower the wait time for purchasing new land. Making me reach a certain level, wait three days, and still pay 15,000 coins is excessive. I know you can skip the wait and coins with 45 keys, but that’s a lot of keys. Just let me have the land.
- Be mindful of the balance between when someone unlocks a new feature and when someone actually has access to it. For example, I unlocked the mine but don’t have access to it yet because three pieces of land stand in my way. It seems like I’ll need to purchase each piece before I can actually start using the mine. However, I’m beginning to get task and market items that require the mine and that’s frustrating.
Final Comments
After playing for five days and putting in $23 for keys, (I couldn’t resist) I have to say that I’m still enjoying it but I can see my play evolving. Things take longer so it’s starting to get more frustrating. But new features keep unlocking. For example, the County Fair just unlocked today! And I know I’ll have access to the mine soon. These things are keeping me playing for now. But I’m also beginning to notice how much time I’m investing into this and I know that I need to slow down some. I’m still definitely having fun though and while I may/should slow down, I don’t think I’ll stop for a while.
