Lost Media: The Realm of Facebook Games
Most people don’t think of Facebook as a hub for gaming, but in the early 2010s, Adobe Flash was setting the stage for mobile games of the last decade. The addictive game psychology and easy-to-understand, often overly simplistic format opened the door to players of all ages and paved the way for the normalization of microtransactions–albeit smaller than the modern norm.
The vast majority of these social networking games were developed or acquired by
Zynga. Neighbors could send gifts and supplies, complete specialized tasks on each other's properties, and join co-op challenges.
FarmVille
The original farming simulator was developed over a six-week span and launched for browsers in mid-June 2009 with a brief stint on the Apple App Store in 2010.
FarmVille was the first Facebook game to reach 10 million active users and hosted its own website in its first year. Players earned XP for performing certain actions such as plowing or buying items. Crops would grow in real-time, and if a player didn't return in time to harvest their crops, they would wither.
FarmVille featured two forms of currency: Farm Coins and Farm Cash. While Farm Coins could be found through harvesting crops or visiting neighbors, Farm Cash could be purchased through PayPal or earned for free by watching ads or signing up for a free quote.
Though livestock and trees never died, Farm Cash could be used to rejuvenate withered crops.
FrontierVille
Almost one year exactly from the release of
Farmville, Zynga released a more wild west reskin of their original cash cow. Players could clear oak and pine trees, grass, cacti, wildflowers, rocks, and cow skulls to plant apple, cherry, pear, peach, and apricot trees. Chopping trees and clearing grass risked encountering bears and snakes, which were harmless but needed to be scared off in order to complete tasks.
In August 2011, a rescue storyline was rolled out under the name of
The Pioneer Trial, a thinly veiled ripoff of the
Oregon Trail.
FrontierVille was shut down on April 30, 2015.
CityVille
Players can buy, sell goods, and produce their own goods by farming and shipping. Visiting neighbors earned players Reputation Points.
CityVille touted an impressive 100,000 sign-ups at launch, surpassing FarmVille in December 2010 as its most popular game with over 61 million monthly users and over 16 million daily users. A 3D sequel was released in December 2012, but was only live for 3 months. The original title became defunct in April 2015.
YoVille
Before virtual reality, Big Viking Games hopped on the trend of browser based role-playing in 2008 with
YoVille, which was soon after acquired by Zynga. Players could purchase and decorate new homes, style their avatars, adopt pets, and socializing. Like other browser-based worlds at the time, the map featured locations such as restaurants and nightclubs.
Players took on jobs and daily tasks to earn cash and bonuses. Furniture, clothing, and other items could be traded, and the Auction House was added in 2012.
How to Play:
Most Facebook games shut down with the death of Adobe Flash. However, some updated ports (FarmVille 3, YoWorld) are available for iOS!
