Life Lessons in FarmTown

FarmTown is a Facebook application that encourages community and healthy competition.  I personally put off playing it for a long time, but I had so many gifts from friends and family that I finally decided to give it a try.  I found that it wasn’t a total waste of time as I thought it would be.  My wife and I just started playing it not too long ago.  Some of our relatives are way up there in the experience level and have upgraded their farms to the point that they have fun hiring others to do the work for them; they are enjoying the good life.  We were showing off our farms to our grand-daughter and were showing her how the plowing, sowing and harvesting works.  I actually think it could be a little educational without its players realizing it.  She thought it was really cool.  I showed them how they could make money in a short amount of time by working other people’s farms while you’re waiting for your crops to grow. Later on my wife said, you know this game might have some good lessons in there for her.

I thought about it for awhile and I agreed.  There are some lessons to be learned, I will enumerate a few.

Some lessons learned:

• Money management
  • It takes money to make money, if you haven’t reserved some cash for emergencies, you might miss out on future opportunities.
    • It costs money for a equipment (water hose, rake,gloves)
    • It costs money to plow
    • It costs money for seed
    • It costs money to hire others
  • Money does not grow on trees, but you can earn it by harvesting trees
  • Money is the fruit of your labor
  • If you want to expand your operation or have more things, you need to earn more money
• Good things come to those who wait.
  • Some of those crops grow really slowly.
  • But when the harvest finally comes in, you can reap the rewards.
• Better things come to those who are not idle while they’re waiting.
  • If you have some time to kill, why not hire yourself out while you’re waiting on your crops.
• Experience counts
  • As you increase in experience, you get to do more cool things
  • You have access to better things
• Teamwork (manpower) gets a physical task done more quickly
  • Of course one person can do it all by themselves, but there’s more fun in numbers
  • And while you’re at it, you can practice outsourcing the mundane stuff, while you do the fun stuff
• Hard work and persistence pays off
  • Hanging in there while looking for a job
  • Growing your skills to get to the next level
  • In the end you gain some personal satisfaction that you’ve reached the top
• If you procrastinate, your harvest could go to waste
  • Timing is important

Observations:

• I noticed that the Marketplace is kind of like the real life job market.
  • A crowd of people all trying to get the attention of a potential employer
  • Many of them frustrated, because they cannot get a job quick enough.
• It’s a chance to practice your social skills
• It’s a chance to practice some Personal Marketing
• Notice when you’re in the Marketplace, how desperate some people sound; don’t be one of them.  There are other ways to stand out in the crowd.

FarmTown does consume some time, just make sure it’s your spare time, not prime time with your family.  Unless of course they’re playing it with you.

Related posts:

1. 16 essential life skills students should know before leaving high school
2. FarmTown Addiction