Serious Game Critique - Essay Example

Farmville is a very popular game all around the world. It is meant to improve the intellectual and the creative capacity of the user. Moreover, the environmental aspects associated with the game intend to improve the aptitude of people towards farming and environment. The game has been designed based on the traits of responsibility and regularity. For instance, if a vegetable is planted by the gamer in the morning, the player will have to return on a set time to irrigate it or harvest it so as to maintain the crop.

It is the regular maintenance and harvesting of the crops that advances one through the game. As I played the game, I felt that the game apparently stimulates an encouraging emotional change. The mouse clicks, through which the player plough, harvest and plant are perceived as expressions of hard work and dedication. The rewards of harvesting result in a lot of satisfaction through which a positive emotional status is created. I personally felt being proud of receiving the rewards of the labor that I put in.

These rewards could further be used to enhance the farming area both qualitatively and quantitatively. As the game is played on the public forum, the farms can be showcased on the social media and can be compared with the farms of the virtual neighbors. This is an important social element associated with the game. It lets you boast over your achievement on the game in the virtual social space. Further as I advanced through the game, I discovered the game to be shallow in terms of its content.

As the advanced stages I could not find the process intellectually or emotionally empowering. The game becomes simpler and less laborious as one achieves more rewards in the game. For instance, at later stages of the game the harvesting machine eases the player of the labour of clicking each square plot. Thus my experience the game fails in sustaining the emotional, physical and social excitement which it provides in the beginning. Thus at an advanced level game was delimiting the social and physical improvement of the user The game is obviously growing in its popularity.

The provision for the current users to tempt the non-users through their facebook accounts severs as provision for its increasing popularity. These face book ‘updates’ creates a state of obligation for others to join. The game thus can be found to be bound by the principles of obligation along with responsibility and regularity. The commercial success and the increasing popularity of the game suggest the success of the game in catering to the targeted audience. Farmville also bound its users by adding an ethical aspect to it.

The game raised almost one million dollars for the Haiti earthquake relief operations. This move could successfully bring in social and emotional change within the community of the gamers. They developed a feeling that they were playing for a social cause. This promoted more people to join the gaming community and further bound the gamers together. The physical change that the game brought forth in its gamers is however limited. The healthy physical, psychological and social development of any individual requires their active involvement in a variety of physical and social activities in the real time environment.

For an individual to be healthy, happy, and productive, the integration of their physical activities, social interaction and