The idea of being a farmer may have crossed your mind, but what about your normal job? You have the task of trying to locate a new home, learning how to farm, actually going out and doing the back breaking labor, this all adds up to a huge distraction for most people. Rather than trying to change your entire lifestyle, an option that can have you harvesting crops in no time is FarmVille, the MMORPG based game that is integrated into the uber popular online social networking site Facebook.
From the basics of setting up a farm, to planting, harvesting, and tending the crops you have the perfect chance to get started digging into the life of a farmer and creating your own perfect utopian farm. With a few really great features that attract a wide user base, it is easy to see exactly why FarmVille has risen in popularity to become one of the most popular Facebook applications.
From the popular online game company Zynga, FarmVille allows you to create a farm, plant crops, harvest them, sell them, and even raise a few animals as well. You are able to go visit neighbor’s farms, plus enjoy the benefit of real time strategy which means crops that take 4 hours before they can be harvested, will take 4 real hours making it easy to decide what you want to plant, and when for the best results.
The goal of the game, simply put is to create the best and biggest farm possible. You’re able to visit friend’s farms, as well as expand your farm as you rise through the levels. Growing crops, and taking care of the farm helps you to gain points that are used to gain more experience points, which helps you to unlock new types of crops, gain new livestock to care for, plus allows you to purchase different types of equipment, buildings and much more.
For someone who is looking for a game to ultimately beat or win, this is not a good option. There is no ultimate conclusion to the game. With new crops, buildings, and ribbons always added to the game, there is no limit to how much, or how little you can play FarmVille. This makes it a great game for those who like the challenge of a long-term game without much stress.
Basic Tutorial
To start out with FarmVille, you are given a small amount of cash or coins, a very small farm, and a couple of crops that are already growing. This will allow you to get started on FarmVille without having to dig through the assorted tools first.
Once you start up, at the bottom right you will see a small control panel. This offers you all of the tools that you will use to run your farm. Included are the Multi-Tool, Plow Tool, Sell/Demolish Tool, Ribbons, Market, and Gifts buttons. Additionally, there is a zoom in and out, as well as a resize button and finally picture mode.
Multi-Tool is one of the most commonly used tools. By clicking on the items around your farm with it selected you will be able to do a wide variety of things such as checking the progress of your crops, harvest your crops, as well as harvest trees and even livestock. Additional features include the ability to pet the animals, move items around the farm, and even quickly accessing the market menu if you click on a plowed plot. You can even change the overall look of your farmer if you click on your farmer with the multi-tool selected.
Plow tool will be your best asset in trying to actually improve your farm. By plowing the various parts of your farm, you will be able to go back and plant crops of various plants. This can be a great way to earn coins and one of the most common ways to manage your farm. When you first start playing FarmVille, you will have a farm that is 12×12; this gives you a total of 144 squares that you are able to use for trees, crops, animals or anything else. For each square that you plow, it will cost you 15 coins, but you do gain 1 experience point. After you have plowed the land that you intend to use for crops, you can then start planting seeds that are purchased from the market.
Demolish tool will allow you to remove anything that is around your farm that you do not want or need anymore. This includes things such as trees, plowed fields, animals, even buildings and more. Keeping in mind that anything that you demolish is gone forever, is extremely important as you will not be able to get it back after the item has been demolished.
Ribbons shows off all of the possible achievements that you can get within FarmVille. Additionally, this will show you the ribbons that you have earned, how close you are to earning a new ribbon, and also what other ribbons you can earn. By looking at this area, you can see what rewards are possible, and work towards earning as many ribbons as possible.
Market is the heart of FarmVille. This is the one area where you can buy buildings, seeds, plants, animals and even decorations. You can also upgrade your farm to a larger size, and really make your farm look like a real farm. You can use coins to purchase many of the items in the market, including seeds or bills to purchase other items such as special decorations, animals and other pieces for your farm. With a wide array of options in the market, you can get your farm fully setup in no time, and have a good setup for your farm in no time. Keep in mind, the amount of stuff that you can purchase in the market is limited to the actual amount of coins you have, as well as the room that you have on your farm to place items. For the items that cost bills, you will need to spend some real cash to purchase them, or wait as you level up since you will receive one bill for each level that you increase.
Gift allows you to find all of the gifts that your friends have sent to you. By using these gifts, you can get animals for your farm, different trees and other items that can be quite useful. As you are acquiring gifts, they are automatically stored until you pull them out to use.
Additional features that you can find on the screen includes a wide variety of tools. This includes the music button to turn music on or off, as well as the sound effects, graphics quality selection, coin balance, cash balance, your experience bar, current level, and also the ability to leave a message at a friend’s farm easily and quickly. This would give you a huge array of information about your farm, and allow you to really customize the settings so that they fit your needs perfectly. Additional features across the bottom includes the ability to scroll through your neighbors, as well as the neighbor’s toolbar.
Currency is broken up into both coins, as well as cash. Cash is highly limited, and not available to be used by everyone. You earn coins by raising crops and selling them once they are ready to be harvested. The different types of seeds that are available can give you a huge difference in the amount of coins that you will earn per square on your farm. Some seeds grow into crops that pay very little, though are quite cheaper up front, while other crops are much more profitable though require more money for seeds.
Cash itself is only earned by increasing in levels through the game, or by actually spending money to acquire the cash. There are no crops, or animals that can be harvested at this time to acquire cash, which can limit the ability to purchase some special edition items, as well as buildings and other items around the market.
There are several reasons to add neighbors to your farm. By adding neighbors, you are able to earn some ribbons for being popular, as well as go to visit your neighbor’s farms. Additional perks include the ability for your neighbors to fertilize your crops, which enables them to grow much larger and permit you to earn more coins when they are harvested. Additionally, by visiting your friends farms you can help them out with tasks around the farm which will enable you to earn not only coins, but also experience points.
The most important reason to add neighbors is so you can upgrade your farm. By adding neighbors you will unlock various farm sizes that you will be able to purchase using coins. For example, to unlock the 14×14 farm, you will need to have both 10,000 coins but also at least 8 neighbors. Adding more neighbors gives you the ability to upgrade your farm even larger as well.
Inside FarmVille your goal is to grow some crops, earn a few coins, increase your level and increase the size of your farm. Since the game has no final end in sight, being able to get started will enable you to start building the farm of your dreams. Additionally you can plant trees as well that will enable you to increase the productivity of your farm and earn more coins per hour as well.
Game Goals
To actually get started with a crop, begin by clicking on the plow tool, then select where you would like to place your first plot. Click and the area will be plowed. Once you are done plowing, click on the market. This will open up a window for the market and allow you to browse the entire selection of seeds that is available to choose from. Pick the seed that you would like, and begin clicking on each individual plowed square. This will plant the seeds for you. Once you are done planting, you will need to wait patiently until the crop is ready to be harvested.
While waiting on the crops to be ready, you can hover your mouse over the crop and get a quick pop up that tells you how close they are percentage wise. This will help you to gauge when you need to return to harvest and plow your farm again. After the plants are ready to be harvested, you can then replow the fields so that you can again plant more seeds. Each time you harvest a crop, the land must be replowed before it can be replanted.
Additional forms of crops include trees, this can be a good benefit since they only have to be planted once, however they do not give any experience points, nor do they provide a large amount of coins for each harvest. However, they do take up less space than most other types of crops; including animals so will enable you to fit more in for the space that you have available.
A final option is animals. They can be really cute to have around the farm, but in terms of return they are quite low on the list. They generally take a large amount of space, but can be harvested once a day. This can provide a steady stream of coins, but does take up quite a bit of space that could be used for other crops that are quite a bit more profitable. Learn about FarmVille Animals.
Getting started in the world of FarmVille can be quite exciting and in no time you will be hooked and expanding your farm to all new levels. With several great ways that you can get started and play, you will find that you can make what you want of your farm, and explore a few options easily and simply to create the perfect FarmVille experience for you.
