By: Nick Smith

               Lynn Powers’s farm, on facebook, is dotted with sunflowers, filled with various farm animals, and even has enough trees to house virtual wildlife. This farm has everything a real farm has and even more than one could ever want. With a haunted house in the top right corner, to the seven hot air balloons fanned out across the property, Power’s asks herself, “What haven’t I added to my farm yet?” 

               First, a quick primer on what virtual farming is, and how it relates with the commonly known social networking site, Facebook: 

               Virtual farming is an online interactive game which gives you the opportunity to cultivate land, grow crops, and harvest them for coins that can be used to purchase farm crops and equipment. This game is an application on Facebook, which allows your friends to become your neighbors. 

               “I never would have imagined that farming could be so fun. When I started to play, I even thought about growing some of my own crops, but this was much more challenging and not nearly as rewarding. So, my advice is to just keep it virtual,” says Powers, who has been a devoted player/farmer for a few months now. 

               Facebook has two very similar virtual farming games to choose from. Farmville, which Powers uses, has exploded around the Franklin Road Academy campus in popularity over these past couple of weeks. However, there is a second option, and it’s called Farmtown. 

               One might ask, “Which is better?” Well, that depends on who is asked. Here on campus, Farmville would be considered the better of the two, but are they really that different from each other? 

               One vast difference would be the graphics. Farmville, being cartoonier, attracts younger audiences. It’s plowed land looks very similar to a chocolate gram cracker and the trees resemble cotton candy on a stick. This makes it seem almost charming in a way. On the other hand, Farmtown’s graphics are more realistic, and the creators did a great job at developing the game in this fashion. 

               User-to-user interactivity is another feature to look at when trying to decide between the two. Farmtown is very interactive, whereas Farmville is not user-to-user interactive at all. User-to-user interactivity is a feature that allows the user to see another user during game play. Farmville has no option. 

               Whether you prefer one over the other, they are both exceedingly basic. In fact, the addictive qualities seem to always surprise the casual interloper. Take pretty much the entire staff here at Franklin Road Academy. The overall goal of the game is to see who can reach the highest level and who can build the biggest, nicest, and most realistic virtual farm. Once accomplished, this fad will surely die, but yet another one simultaneously will be born.