What is a farm without any bees? Bees contribute to about 1/3 of crops in the United States. They pollinate anything from apple trees to almonds. Farmville, a real-time farm simulation game developed by Zynga, have recently acknowledged the importance of bees by including them into the game. Zynga states that the update was due to the overwhelming requests from Farmville users. Caring for the bees is a game within itself.
The significance of bees is emulated through the game play. Users are allowed to purchase building materials for their hive. Once built, users can assemble their swarms and pollinate their crops. This enable users to master crops quicker and earn more money. Honey produced by the bees can also be sold at the market. Also, users are suggested to tend to their beehives daily or the bees may fly away and disappear.
I find this new addition to the game very interesting. The main goal of Farmville is to build the largest and wealthiest farm in order to show off to neighboring farms. The new introduction of bees allow users to gain an upper hand in yielding more crops which in turn increase income that users can use to expand their farm. Users grasp this method very well, but it makes me wonder whether or not users understand the bridging concern for bees in the real world. Farmville should include some interesting facts about bees as users interact with the hive. Users will not only acknowledge bees in the digital realm but also in reality. It would be appealing to see Zynga donate to the Bee Crisis depending on how many hives are built or by the amount of honey that is produced in Farmville.
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