The six secrets of Farmville’s success

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Farmville came out at around the same time as Playfish’s Country Story which, while doing well, has only achieved 4 million users, 16% of the size of Farmville’s player base. Farmville has got six key elements absolutely nailed, and it’s reaping the rewards of its clever, viral design. So what are they?

1. The joy (and shame) of gifting

Gifting was one of Face book’s earliest memes. When Face book first emerged, it was about “poking” your friends and giving them virtual beers or dogs.

2. Farmville gifts have value

The objective of Farmville is to build a thriving farm. You spend money to dig plots, plant crops, buy animals and plant orchards.

3. Farmville gifts cost me nothing

Here’s where Zynga departs from the real world: sending a gift costs me zilch. I can only send them sporadically, but it costs me nothing more than the time it takes to select an avocado tree and the friends I want to send it to.

4. Farmville doesn’t really bother with levels

There are levels in Farmville: you can’t buy certain crops or a combine harvester until you reach a certain level. But the real limitation is cash. And you can get more cash by playing more often.

5. Choosing what crops to plant matters

Strawberries grow very fast in Farmville-land. Only four hours in fact But there is a quid pro quo. Strawberries wither and rot quickly too.
6. If you don’t return frequently, your crops wither and die

With Country Story, you have to visit frequently to water your crops. If you don’t, they “pause” their growth, and won’t start again until you water them.

There are two things that matter to making your social game a success: getting users to return frequently and getting users to invite their friends.