Wednesday, January 6, 2010

How To Cure Farmville Addiction

Anyone with a Facebook account knows that Farmville is the latest unlikely hit, allowing users to design and operate their own cartoon farm complete with too cute livestock and the unlikely banana tree that still produces a crop every three days regardless of the snow on the ground.

With millions of players, the charming escapist guilty pleasure can quickly become an addicting habit. If you find youself addicted to Farmville, consider the following ways to break the cycle.

5. Don’t Start Playing

Probably the most unlikely solution, it nevertheless is true that abstinence is the only certain way to avoid fullblown Farmville addiction. But those cartoon cows are just too cute, so we’ll move on to…

4. Set a Timer

You don’t need to spend hours a day organizing your livestock and rearranging your orchards or crops. At its heart, Farmville is a beguilingly simple game. Set an egg timer, or an old fashioned kitchen alarm, and tear yourself away when the bell rings. If that doesn’t work, you can always…

3. Ask Your Friends For Help

In this age of TV shows like Intervention, there’s likely a whole host of family and friends who will be eager to stage a fun and melodramatic effort to help your Farmville addiction.

2. Get Addicted to Something Else

Facebook offers a whole host of other classic time sucking games for escapism purposes. Try a walker on the darker side with the silly Mafia Wars, or search for pirate gold in Treasure Madness.

All that is fine, but I’m betting the most surefire way to cure Farmville Addiction is surprisingly simple:

1. Visit A Real Farm

Somehow, cartoon animals seem a bit less appealing when you’re reminded that their real life counterparts require a bit more work than the occasional brushing. The stench of cow manure alone could easily be enough to shatter the illusion!

No comments: