作者：James Au

如今的农场游戏虽然不复前几年称霸Facebook游戏平台的光芒，但是却仍然拥有较大的用户基础。以下我们将根据AppData的流量追踪，分析位于前六名的农场游戏。

Facebook top 6 farm games(from AppData)

除了《FarmVille》之外，其它居于前列的五款农场游戏的用户来自于世界各地，其中多为阿拉伯，土耳其以及中国Facebook用户。根据Inside Virtual Goods数据，这些名列前茅的农场游戏都拥有超过20%的用户粘性。本文将简要介绍每一款游戏的核心游戏机制和盈利功能。（游戏邦注：这里所指的农场游戏排除了那些收割和种植非农作物的模拟游戏，例如怪物、僵尸和大麻题材的游戏。）

《FarmVille》——Zynga

Farmville-MAU-DAU(from AppData)

发行于2009年的夏季，并在2010年12月份就已经获得了将近6千万的MAU（达到了顶峰），但是今天其MAU已经下跌到峰值的一半，并且这种趋势将一直持续到2011年5月。Zynga后来与著名歌手Lady Gaga在该游戏中推出品牌营销合作，促使该游戏DAU和MAU的短时间回升，并且在9月份推出游戏扩展内容Lighthouse Cove之时，其MAU也获得了暂时提高，但DAU却无明显增幅。从11月份开始，《FarmVille》的DAU和MAU比值开始呈现下滑趋势，从10月中旬的28%跌落至今天的23%，其MAU虽然在上升，但DAU却在下滑。

除了《FarmVille》，其它几款农场游戏的用户活跃度却极为不同：

阿拉伯语游戏المزرعة السعيدة（英文名：《Happy Land》）–Peak Games（发行商）& Halfquest（开发商）

Happy-Land-Arabic(from AppData)

《Happy Land》是针对阿拉伯国家Facebook用户的一款农场游戏，并且游戏中包含了许多符合当地人审美观点的图像，例如游戏中的顾问角色就戴着阿拉伯头巾。在游戏玩法中，玩家可以用收获的农场资源去饲养牲畜，或者加工后拿到市场中进行贩卖。玩家可以装扮农场，并与其他玩家竞争以获得更多财富和经验值去拓展自己的农场。玩家可以用虚拟货币“Ranch Cash”（用Facebook Credits购买）来升级设备，特殊的道具等。

Happy Land(from insidemobileapps)

从左上顺时针方向依序为：《Happy Land》（阿拉伯语），《Happy Land》（英语），《Country Life》以及《Our Farm》（土耳其语）

除了拥有50万MAU与23%DAU/MAU比值的英语农场游戏《Happy Land》，发行商Peak Games还推出了一款土耳其语农场游戏《Bizim Çiftlik》，该游戏拥有98万的MAU，26%的DAU/MAU比值。另外还有一款英语农场游戏《Country Life》，拥有110万MAU和19%的DAU/MAU比值，但是截止本文撰稿，Peak Games都未回应这款游戏是否由其发行，或者该游戏将由其开发商Halfquest自主安排发行事宜。

中文游戏《开心农场》（英文名：《Happy Farm》）——ELEX

开心农场(from AppData)

《开心农场》是一款针对中国Facebook用户的农场游戏，玩家可以在4×7的农场网格中种植并收获庄稼，自行装扮农场，并通过游戏中的排名系统与好友进行竞争。该游戏营收来自其虚拟货币，玩家可以通过Facebook Credits购买其指定货币，然后再用它兑换特殊的种子，植物，设备，牲畜以及拥有不同背景的农场布局。《开心农场》拥有非常高的用户粘性，超过40%的玩家每天都在玩这款游戏。

土耳其语游戏《Komşu Çiftlik》（英文名：《Barn Buddy》）——TheBroth & Peak Games

Komşu Çiftlik(from AppData)

这款TheBroth的《Barn Buddy》土耳其语版本MAU远远超过其之前发行的英语版游戏（前者的MAU是210万，后者是160万），并且DAU/MAU比值接近20%。这款游戏的核心机制是玩家通过清除死苗，喷洒农药，种植并浇灌新芽去照料一片农场，获得收货后将其卖到市场上换取游戏货币“Coins”和“Credits”。与众多农场游戏一样，《Barn Buddy》的玩家也可以访问好友的农场，帮助他们照料庄稼和牲畜。他们也可以通过放置害虫和野草去破坏好友的农场，或者偷取他们的庄稼。这种机制提高了游戏的竞争性，让玩家为了排名而更加踊跃参与游戏。

该游戏让玩家使用Facebook Credits购买农场的动物，以此赚取更多货币和经验值。例如他们可以购买防盗狗去防止其他玩家的偷盗行为。在这些动物中还有来自日本著名电视节目中的一个角色Domo的虚拟品牌形象，TheBroth之前曾针对这一角色在Facebook上另外开发了一款游戏。玩家也可以通过观看嵌入式广告而获得Facebook Credits。

《Farm Town》—-–Slashkey

Farm Town(from AppData)

作为最早的Facebook农场模拟游戏之一，《Farm Town》在2009年的顶峰期就获得了大量的玩家，并且直到现在仍然保留许多活跃玩家。在游戏中，玩家能够自定义并控制游戏角色，让他们去种植并收获庄稼，在市场上贩售，并用所得利润去拓展自己的农场。在市场中，角色与角色之间可以随时交流，并帮助对方完成农场任务而获得奖励（游戏中设置了在线聊天以及玩家间相互发送信息的功能）。

玩家可以通过添加工厂以及其它建筑物，牲畜等装扮并扩展自己的农场，并花费“Coin”（玩家可以通过完成游戏内的任务或者使用Facebook Credits换得）或者“FarmCash”（只能用Facebook Credits换取或者广告商的“赞助”）在游戏中购买道具，如种子、树、花、动物、建筑物、额外的土地或者家具等。

《Gourmet Ranch》——Playdemic & RockYou

Gourmet Ranch(from AppData)

在《Gourmet Ranch》中，玩家不仅可以自定义并扩展自己的农场，还会经营一间有机餐厅。玩家可以对自定义的游戏角色下达命令。并且，与其它农场游戏一样，玩家必须种植，培育并收获庄稼/牲畜。但是与其它农场游戏不一样之处是，玩家可以将所收获的产品用于自己经营的餐厅中。并且他们也可以将收获的作物（连同加工后的产品）卖给其他玩家，并利用所得收入去购买更多高质量的农产品，以制作出更多高价销售的餐厅食物，以此不断扩展自己的农场和餐厅。

玩家在游戏中可以获得虚拟货币“GR Coin”和“Cash”（均可用Facebook Credits换得），并以此购买更多农场和餐厅的道具和产品。“Key”可以打开更多游戏内容，“Speedups”可以帮助玩家加速完成游戏目标，并且玩家都可以利用“GR”和“Cash”购买这两种道具。

值得一提的是，RockYou在2011年1月收购了《Gourmet Ranch》开发商Playdemic，并将自身广告平台与该游戏绑定，从而推动了游戏的稳定发展和持续更新。但是RockYou最近进行了一次重要改组，并将Playdemic连同《Gourmet Ranch》回售给其创始人，而这也是这款游戏在上图中的MAU和DAU下降的主要原因之一。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Facebook’s Top Farming Games By Traffic

James Au

While farming games no longer dominate the Facebook gaming platform as they once did in previous years, they still retain a very large userbase. Join us for a look at the top six farming games by traffic, as recorded by our traffic tracking service, AppData.

Name MAU DAU DAU/MAU%

1. FarmVille 7,000,000 30,900,000 23%

2. ??????? ???????(Happy Land) 3,000,000 920,000 31%

3. 開心農場 (Happy Farm) 2,200,000 890,000 41%

4. Kom?u ?iftlik (Barn Buddy) 2,100,000 450,000 22%

5. Farm Town 990,000 260,000 26%

6. Gourmet Ranch 620,000 160,000 26%

Beyond FarmVille, the leading five farm games have over 13 million total monthly active users (MAU), spread across a demographically diverse userbase, much of whom are Arab, Turkish, and Chinese speaking Facebook users. Many of these top farm games boast engagement rates over 20%, which is considered high based on data collected in Inside Virtual Goods. This report will briefly review each of these games’ core gameplay loops and monetization features.

[Editor's Note: For the purposes of this report, “farming game” is defined as a simulation where the act of farming forms the core gameplay loop. This list also excludes games where  farming mechanics such as harvesting and planting are used to collect non-farm resources -- monsters, zombies, marijuana, etc.]

Farmville – Zynga

Launched in the Summer of 2009 and reaching a peak of of nearly 60 million MAU in December 2010, FarmVille’s userbase is now roughly half that number, with a downward trend that continued into May 2011. At that point, Zynga launched a branded FarmVille ad campaign linked to pop star Lady Gaga that created a short-term increase in DAU and MAU; a complete expansion launched in September also temporarily increased MAU, but not DAU. Since November, FarmVille has seen a recent drop of DAU as a percent of MAU, falling from 28% in mid-October to 23% now as MAU continues to rise while DAU falls.

Beyond FarmVille, however, activity rates for the top farming games are often quite different:

??????? ??????? (Arabic, Happy Land) – Peak Games & Halfquest

A farming game aimed at Arabic-speaking Facebook users, Happy Land contains art assets targeting that demographic; for instance, the player’s advisor character wears a keffiyeh headdress. In the core gameplay loop, the player harvests farm resources which can be used to feed livestock, or processed, and then sold at market. Players can customize the look of their farm, and compete with other players to gain the most wealth and experience points for developing them. Monetization is through Ranch Cash (purchased with Facebook Credits) used for buying equipment upgrades, special items, and farming power-ups.

Clockwise from top left: Happy Land (Arabic), Happy Land (English), Country Life, and Our Farm (Turkish)

Note that publisher Peak Games also has a Turkish language version of the game called Bizim ?iftlik that enjoys 980,000 MAU and 26% DAU/MAU in addition to an English language version of the game called Happy Land, which now sees 500,000 MAU and 23% DAU/MAU. There also appears to be second English language version of the game, Country Life, with 1,100,000 MAU and 19% DAU/MAU, but as of press time Peak Games has not responded to request to clarify whether or not this game published by it or was perhaps created by developer Halfquest independently of its publishing agreement with Peak Games.

開心農場 (Chinese, Happy Farm) – ELEX

A farming game aimed at Chinese-speaking Facebook users, Happy Farm’s core gameplay loop centers around a 4×7 farming grid, where crops can be planted and harvested. Players have some customization options for the look of their farm, and a ranking system enables competition between friends playing the game. Monetization is built on special Happy Farm currency, purchasable with Facebook Credits, which can then be used to purchase special seeds, plants, equipment, livestock, and special enhanced farm layouts with different backgrounds (such as a fantasy or island theme). Happy Farm enjoys very high engagement rates, with over 40% of its users playing on a daily basis.

Kom?u ?iftlik (Turkish, Barn Buddy) – TheBroth & Peak Games

The Turkish language version of TheBroth’s Barn Buddy farm game far outpaces its English language original in MAU (2.1 million versus 1.6 million), but arrives at roughly the same DAU/MAU around 20%. In the core gameplay loop, players tend a field by removing dead plants, spraying for bugs and weeds, planting and watering new crops, and then harvesting and selling them at market for the game’s currencies, Coins and Credits. As with many other farm games, players of Barn Buddy can visit their friends’ farms to help care for their crops and livestock. However, they also have an option to sabotage friends’ farms by adding bugs and weeds, or even steal their crops. This component adds an extra layer of competitiveness to the game’s leaderboards.

Monetization comes through Facebook Credits purchased to buy farm animals, which earn the player extra currency and experience points. This includes guard dogs, which protect against player-to-player crop theft. Among the animals that can be purchased in Barn Buddy is a branded virtual good: Domo, the popular Japanese television character — who also has his own Facebook game developed by TheBroth. Facebook Credits can also be earned in the game by watching embedded commercials.

Farm Town – Slashkey

Among the very first Facebook farm sim games to gain a large number of players back in 2009, Farm Town still maintains a relatively large and active userbase. Players customize and control an avatar, and use him or her to grow and harvest crops, sell them at market, and then use the profits to develop and expand their farm property. In the marketplace, players’ avatars can interact with each other in real time, and earn bonuses for cooperating with each other on their respective farm tasks. (The game has live chat and player-to-player messaging features for this purpose.)

As for monetization, players can also customize many aspects of their farm, adding factories and other buildings, along with livestock. To purchase in-game items, such as seeds, trees, flowers, animals, buildings, additional land, and furniture, players spend Coins (which can be earned with in-game activity or purchased with Facebook Credits) or FarmCash, which are only available for Facebook Credits, or by fulfilling advertiser offers.

Gourmet Ranch – Playdemic & RockYou

In Gourmet Ranch’s core gameplay, players expand and customize their farm, which is attached to an organic restaurant. Commands are directed through a customizable avatar. As with the other farming games in this list, the player must grow, tend, and harvest crops/livestock. Unlike these other games, this harvest is used to bake products served in the player’s restaurant. These harvested goods (along with cooked products) can be sold to other players. Earnings from these sales can be spent to purchase higher quality farm products, to bake more expensive restaurant items, and to develop the farm and restaurant.

Monetization comes via the game’s official currency, GR Coins and Cash, both buyable with Facebook Credits, used to purchase farm and restaurant items. Keys, which unlock game content, and Speedups, which automatically hasten game goals, can also be purchased with GR Cash.

Note that Gourmet Ranch developer Playdemic was purchased by publisher RockYou in January 2011, causing the game to grow steadily as the publisher integrated its ad platform within the game while the developer continued to release content. RockYou recently underwent dramatic restructuring, ultimately selling Playdemic back to its founders along with Gourmet Ranch, which may explain the decline in MAU and DAU reflected in the chart above.（source:insidesocialgames）