A strange sample of my facebook friends are playing Farmville, from my high school geometry teacher to a high school acquaintance who is now a (very glamorous) drag queen.
At first, I didn't really understand the appeal of Farmville. Players maintain a virtual farm on facebook. The only object of the game is to grow your farm the way you like, with crops, animals, buildings and decorations of your choice. You buy seeds for crops with fake money, and you make a fake money profit when the crops are harvested. None of it is very complicated.
As it turns out, the appeal is in the element of choice. Although there are "levels" you can climb within Farmville, "winning" is not defined. You define "winning" by raising a farm according to your own preferences. Much like how "winning" is defined in real life.
As a tutor, I have used Farmville to teach basic math and economics to middle school students. In addition, Farmville is fun--at the center of my farm, there is a very cute duck pond.
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