It’s not every day you hear about a game which entices someone into buying a brand new laptop just to play it – especially when the game is a Facebook app and the ’someone’ is not necessarily your typical gamer.

The new craze sweeping the world of Facebook is, of course, Farm Town or FarmVille, both near enough the same game - a type of farmy simulation where you build and manage your very own farm. Sounds familiar? It will if you have played Harvest Moon, the popular multi-platform franchise.

A rivalry has emerged between FarmVille and Farm Town with fans taking a staunch allegiance to their favourite. Farm Town came first, but the still in beta FarmVille looks to have won through with over 33 million monthly active users. Farm Town has fallen behind in comparison with over 18 million monthly active users. A slicker game than its rival, FarmVille succeeds with emphasis on interactions with your Facebook friends and better graphics.

Farm Town was developed by software company SlashKey and released in February. FarmVille followed suit in July from the hands of Zynga, who are already known for their copycat games. They fell in hot water earlier this year when they were sued for releasing Mafia Wars, a copy of another popular Facebook game, Mob Wars.

So, why has this simple format of a game appealed to so many people? Maybe it’s the joy of tending to your crops, maybe it’s the way you can add your friends’ farms to be your neighbours or maybe it’s a magic feeling of reaching the next level. Who knows?

Whatever it is, the games are doing something right. Before you know it, you’ve gone and got yourself addicted, checking your farm all the time, waiting for the minute when you can harvest your patch of strawberries.

Of course, you need a Facebook account to be able to play the games, something which is not desirable for all people. Yet, as Facebook is the world’s most popular social networking site, any game has high possibilities for success.

Facebook has attracted a wide range of people with many older members of society joining to link up with old friends and work colleagues. Some have heard of Farm Town and FarmVille and signed up for Facebook just to play it. People have been known to rush home in order to harvest their crops at the optimal time.

This phenomenon is still rising and we’re yet to know how high. The games have their differences so try them out and find out which one you prefer.

This feature was published on Geeks.co.uk.