Original Business Plexus graphic inspired by Facebook-era social city-building games.
I have to admit that playing games like Cityville and Farmville are highly addictive. There are always new building you can put, new goals you need to meet, and new friends you end up making as you play. There is also the competition among friends. For example, who built the nicest looking city or achieved the highest level?
But in short, this is a game you never win. You just keep playing. And the game developers are always coming up with new ways to entice you to play more often, and even spend money on the game. For example, you can buy gift cards online to places like Old Navy, and then get some extra "City Cash" to spend making your city better.
What I have also found is there are some very successful people playing this game. It is not just some teenagers with loads of time on their hands. There are people who run successful businesses or otherwise are at the top of their profession playing too. It has been interesting being friends with these people and having them visit my city and help collect rent, harvest crops and send tourists. Its also the type of game where you cab just check in for 5-10 minutes a couple of times each day, so busy people have time to play too.
For those that are currently playing, I have found some good tips on the Cityville Wikia. There you can compare businesses to see which payout the most or find which decorations give the best bonus, or which community buildings allow the most people.
Best wishes to my cityville friends, and apoologies to those who get the occasional posting on facebook. Note that you can always block all postings from Cityville by clicking the X on the right side of the comment. And if you aren't playing, maybe I will see you in my city soon!
Still haven't figured out how to win. :)
Looking back at CityVille
With a little distance, the answer to that last line is clearer: CityVille was not designed to be won in the traditional sense. It was designed to keep giving the player a next small task. Collect rent, harvest crops, finish a goal, help a neighbor, ask for a part, place one more business, then come back later when the timers were ready again.
That was the genius and the frustration of the Facebook social-game era. The game borrowed the pleasant visual language of city building, but the real engine was a loop of appointments, social requests, and tiny rewards. A player could feel productive in five or ten minutes, which made the game fit perfectly into work breaks and evening check-ins. It also meant there was always another reason to return.
CityVille became one of Zynga's defining hits. Zynga says the game reached 26 million daily users in just 12 days, and contemporary coverage reported that it passed 100 million monthly active users only weeks after launch. That is hard to imagine now, but in 2011 Facebook games were sitting directly inside the social graph. Your neighbors were not anonymous players; they were friends, relatives, co-workers, and business contacts.
The game also showed where the model could become exhausting. Progress often depended on energy, timers, gifts, requests, and premium currency. The city looked like a creative sandbox, but the most important design question was often how to keep players returning without letting them finish too quickly. In that sense, the old question "How do you win?" was exactly the right question. You did not really win CityVille. You managed the loop until you were done with it.
CityVille was eventually shut down on April 30, 2015, but it left behind a useful snapshot of the moment when Facebook games were enormous. The design ideas did not disappear. Daily rewards, energy systems, social help, timed buildings, decorative bonuses, and premium currency all continued in mobile games. CityVille now feels like a time capsule, but the habits it helped popularize are still everywhere.
Sources and notes: Zynga's company history notes CityVille's rapid early growth to 26 million daily users in 12 days. Game Developer and other contemporary reports covered the game's rise past 100 million monthly active users. Later shutdown reporting and CityVille reference pages record the April 30, 2015 closing date.