Social Gaming Powerhose Zynga Launches FrontierVille

Zynga is regarded as a social gaming powerhouse thanks to its huge audience and successful games like the ever-popular FarmVille. But, in proving that you don’t always need to innovate to win, all of its games so far have actually been based on ideas ‘borrowed’ from existing products. Not anymore, Zynga is launching FrontierVille, its first original game to date.

Granted, ‘original’ is used rather loosely in this context. It relies on the tried and trusted *ville moniker and for good reason, FrontierVille is heavily based on its famous uncle, FarmVille. The game mechanics are remarkably similar with the only changes being made to the setting, obviously, it’s a Wild West-themed game as the name implies, and the addition of several new features mostly focusing on the social aspects of the game.

As for gameplay, another term loosely used, it’s more of the same. But since ‘more of the same’ is what FarmVille is all about and that game has about 70 million players on Facebook alone, maybe that’s not a bad thing. You can plant crops and extend your farm plot of land and do the same repetitive, menial tasks for little virtual money - the definition of fun.

But now, you can also hop over to your neighbours’ (friends’) farm and help them out with some of their work. What’s more, you can pay your friends in virtual currency for working on your farm. That’ll sure put an interesting twist on you relationship's dynamics.

In its defense, FrontierVille is the first game to come from Zynga out of well-known game designer Brian Reynolds’ hands. He is the man behind Rise of Nations, Civilization II and others, so his pedigree is solid. The game is set to become a success for Zynga, attracting tens of millions of users, but it remains to be seen if it can match FarmVille in the long run.