“Ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more…”
Zynga, of San Francisco, California, makes the games: FarmVille, Mafia Wars, Café World, FishVille, and Zynga Poker.
Sound familiar? They should!
OK, all of my Facebook friends – I do not play ANY of the above games! Although I am not now, and have never been, a “workaholic,” I find that I do not have time in my “real life” to play these games. I am sorry to disappoint you. Maybe I just don’t “play” enough. (And sadly, those who made sure that I DID are generally no longer around me, day to day….)
The GOOD news, for Zynga, is that FarmVille boasts 118 million total installs, and the game has more monthly active users than the population of France! Wooooooooo Hooooooooooo! 
The formula that Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga, used for gaming success on Facebook, MySpace and other sites was as simple as it is counterintuitive: create simple games that people like but can easily set aside!
The game company, Zynga, itself was named after his late bulldog.
In contrast to some video games that attract 18-34-year-old males, three of Zynga’s top games, FarmVille, CaféWorld, and FishVille have mostly female players, All together, more than 65 milion people play Zynga games everyday!
Zynga’s top game, FarmVille, is played by about 75 million people each month, which is roughly equal to the total number who have playeed the classic arcade and desktop game Tetris during its ENTIRE EXISTENCE!
Some of Zynga’s rivals have accused the compnay of using its sizeable venture capital to close out less-well-financed competitors.
OK, so I’m missing out. I just wanted to explain to some of you why I am ignoring your FarmVille requests. I find myself totally occupied WITHOUT playing FarmVille, ever. On Facebook, a group called “I don’t care about your farm, or your fish, or your park, or your mafia!!!” has more than 5.2 million members!
I know. Some of my good friends are members. I decided not to be a member, because there is nothing wrong with YOU playing! I am the one with the problem!
All in all though, games are good. Cooperative games are VERY good.
And all of us should take more time to play….
-Bill at
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