Facebook’s Farmville set to become most popular application

LONDON - Facebook’s free online game Farmville, which allows users to run their own virtual farm, is set to become the most popular application on the social networking site.

Farmville, which allows Facebook members to plant, grow, and harvest virtual crops, trees, raise livestock, invest in farm equipment and sell their produce for profit, has become very popular ever since it was launched on June 19.

The game has nearly 35 million monthly users, and it soon surpass the 35,554,755 record achieved by the ‘How Well Do You Know Me?’ application on the site.

The game’s popularity has been boosted by a growing trend among urbanites to try to their hand to the rural life by harvesting vegetables, milking cows, and shearing sheep.

AllFacebook, a website which tracks the popularity of applications, has estimated that there are over 72 million farmers on Facebook across a number of farming games.

Farmville’s San Francisco-based developer, Zynga, says that the game provided a simple, fun way for people to unwind at the end of the day, with players spending an average of 20 minutes a day tending to their farms, with much of that time taken up with planting their fields.

Although Farmville is free to play, Zynga draws revenue from online advertising and from some users who are prepared to pay for virtual goods.

Mark Pincus, the Zynga Chief Executive, branded the game a ‘cultural phenomenon’ and claimed it taps into a new demand for family-friendly games.

“By combining the best elements of social gaming, with people’s instinct to nurture, we’ve created an incredibly fun, wholesome and rewarding experience,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

Another farming game, Farm Town, is Facebook’s second most popular application.

The rest of the top ten includes a range of applications, which allow users to do anything from donating to charity to starting a virtual Mafia family.

Top Ten Facebook Applications (based on daily use).

1. Famville, 13.4 million daily users

. Farm Town, 6.0 million daily users

. Mafia Wars, 5.8 million daily users

. Facebook for iPhone, 5.7 million daily users

. Facebook for BlackBerry, 5.2 million daily users

. Pet Society, 4.4 million daily users

. Texas HoldEm Poker, 3.8 million daily users

. Restaurant City, 3.7 million daily users

. Facebook Mobile, 2.7 million daily users

0. YoVille, 2.6 million daily users (ANI)