FarmVille
Released 19 June 2009 Developer Zynga
A farming game played in a web browser through Facebook, in which you plough land, plant and harvest crops on a real-time schedule, raise animals and decorate your farm. Friends are 'neighbours' who visit, send gifts and help out, which is how the game spread to tens of millions of players. The original closed on 31 December 2020, so this entry is a historical record.
Money health
CautionBuilt to push spending
Addictive design
High4 of 5 — counts the hooks designed in
Average price
Freefree to download
Spending ceiling
No ceilingRepeat purchases, no limit
How it makes money
Caution: built to push spending
FarmVille was free to play on Facebook from June 2009. It made money by selling Farm Cash, a premium currency that sped up growing, revived withered crops and bought special items, while Farm Coins, earned by harvesting, paid for everyday items. Players could also earn Farm Cash by completing sponsored offers or by getting friends to help on the farm, which critics said led to spam to friends and, in some offers, to scams. Zynga switched off purchases on 17 November 2020 and closed the game on 31 December 2020 when Facebook stopped supporting Flash; FarmVille 2 and FarmVille 3 are separate games.
How you pay
- Free-to-play
Free to play on Facebook from June 2009; Farm Cash, the premium currency, could be bought with real money. Purchases were switched off on 17 November 2020.
- Ad-funded
Players could earn Farm Cash by completing sponsored offers. TechCrunch argued in October 2009 that some of these offers (surveys that ended in a phone-number request) were lead-generation scams that funded the games' advertising.
minor part of the game
Techniques it uses to keep you paying or playing
- Wait or pay
Crops grew on real-time timers and withered if not harvested within a set window; Farm Cash could revive withered crops or make them grow instantly.
- Social nudges
Neighbours could visit, send gifts and join co-op crop jobs, and friends could stand in for Farm Cash by acting as farmhands, which critics said pushed players to spam their Facebook friends with requests.
- Never-ending
There was no ending: you levelled up to unlock new crops and animals and kept farming, with seasonal items added over the years.
- Game currency
Two currencies: Farm Coins, earned by harvesting and visiting neighbours and spent on everyday items such as seeds, and Farm Cash, which was hard to earn in play (mostly from levelling up or offers) and was bought with real money for special items and crop permits.
- FOMO timers
Limited-edition items, often priced in Farm Cash, were sold for only about two weeks before leaving the store (2012 coverage); some were later brought back briefly.
minor part of the game - Always online
The game only ran inside Facebook and relied on Flash. Zynga closed it on 31 December 2020, and anything bought in it went with it.
minor part of the game - Data harvest
A 2010 Wall Street Journal investigation found FarmVille and other top Facebook apps were passing users' Facebook ID numbers to advertising and data firms; a US class action against Zynga followed. Reported through secondary coverage.
minor part of the game
Fairer alternatives
Similar games with a healthier money model
What it costs
Free to start
No prices recorded yet.
Age ratings & content
What's in it
Classification
No classification recorded yet.
Safety & parental controls
Who can talk to your child, and what can they buy?
- No chat
- Players can interact with strangers
- No user-made content
- Needs an online account
Historical: the game is closed. It was played through a Facebook account and had no free-text chat, but you could add neighbours who were not your Facebook friends and exchange visits and gifts with them.
Who makes it
The company behind it, and its track record
- Privacy penalty
Privacy penalty or breach
September 2019: Zynga confirmed that outside hackers had accessed certain player account information. - Large layoffs
Large layoffs
June 2013: Zynga cut about 520 jobs, around 18% of its workforce.
Latest on the record
- Other
Acquired by Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive (SEC Form 8-K) - Court case
Sued over social casino games under Washington State gambling law; later settled
Take-Two Interactive (SEC Form 10-K) - Privacy
Disclosed breach of player account data
Zynga (SEC Form 10-K)
A company's history doesn't change this game's money verdict, which rates only how the game itself makes money. About company track records
Platforms & release
Where you can play it
| Platform | Released | Store |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone and iPad Briefly available in 2010; no longer sold. |
2010 | — |
| Web browser Played inside Facebook (Flash); an HTML version followed on 13 October 2011. Closed 31 December 2020. |
19 June 2009 | — |
Further reading
- The original FarmVille is shutting down after 11 years (PCGamesN, 2020)
- Scamville: The Social Gaming Ecosystem Of Hell (TechCrunch, 2009)
- Facebook apps share user IDs with advertisers (The Register, 2010)
- Wikipedia
Facts last checked 22 October 2026. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, www.pcgamesn.com, techcrunch.com, www.theregister.com, www.aol.com. Spotted something wrong? Send a correction.