Pot Farm

Gameplay of Pot Farm on Facebook

Gameplay on mobile app

Pot Farm is a game similar to Happy Farm and FarmVille, but with an emphasis on cannabis cultivation.[2] On mobile, the game is free-to-play and requires an internet connection.[3]

The game starts with an empty plot of land, with the objective of turning it into a profitable cannabis farm. Progress in the game is tracked by the player's character level, which is increased by experience gained from tending crops, earning achievements and completing certain quests. The higher a player's level, the more types of seeds they can grow, products they can buy and sell, and upgrades they can make to their farm.

Crops are grown from seeds purchased with coins (the game's primary currency) and sold for a profit. The game's secondary currency, potbucks, are earned by gaining levels, planting rare seeds, and from earning achievements; they can also be bought with real currency through microtransactions. Coins can be used to buy decorations and upgrades as well as seeds; potbucks are used for reducing grow times and purchasing rare seeds and special items.

While most other farming games have a "withering" mechanic which causes untended crops to lose their value, Pot Farm has a "protection level" for its crops.[4][5] In the Facebook game, if crops are not balanced with guards and other protection-enhancing items, there is a risk of a character called Ranger Dick appearing and confiscating stash and crops. A minigame-like feature called 'Gold Rush Mode' was also available, which has been compared to Bejeweled,[6] in which potbucks could be gambled for a chance to win many more. These aspects are not present in the mobile game, but posting more people around the farm has benefits including quicker grow times, more money from sales, and more experience.

Pot Farm was developed Brain Warp Studios, specifically by Josh Nilson and Galan Akin in 2010,[7][8] and published on April 20, 2010.[1] The success of the app led to the creation of East Side Games in 2011, which the developers founded with Jason Bailey of SuperRewards. They had received $1.5 million of angel funding by July that year.[8] The developers have reportedly only given one interview about the game, and used the "Uncle Floyd" character persona from the game to do so.[9] East Side Games is based in Vancouver,[7] and its sister company LDRLY, which specializes in cannabis mobile games, is based in nearby Nanaimo.[10]

A representative from LDRLY spoke to Canadian media in 2019 about the publishing of the game, saying that "[they have] always made their mark by doing something different, [they] wanted to build this community out of nothing. It was a great business opportunity because there wasn't a market for it, and very few other games in that space".[7][11]

East Side Games were unable to promote the game on Facebook, and struggled to find marketing in other places because of the cannabis theme; they instead used viral marketing and guerrilla marketing.[12] In May 2011, the developers produced 4:20 rally kits for fans attending cannabis-activism rallys.[13]

In 2011, East Side Games added a Facebook extension called "Pot Farm Raiders", based on the Zynga Facebook app Mafia Wars but with stoners in place of the mafia, where the same principles as Pot Farm apply but crops can be stolen from other farms. This game had about 72,000 monthly active users in 2011.[2] The 2012 monthly active users count for the main Facebook game was about 880,000[4] compared to 82.4 million for Farmville in 2010.[14]

The Android mobile app, developed by LDRLY,[3][10] launched in 2016 and quickly had over 10 million downloads; the iOS app launched the same year. Its success saw East Side Games listed as one of Pocket Gamer's Top 10 Mobile Game Developers to Watch.[1] By 2019, the mobile app had been played over 3.5 billion times.[10] A board game version was released in 2015[15] after Kickstarter funding,[16] and a spin-off called Cheech & Chong: Bud Farm was released on April 20, 2020.[17] The Facebook version of the game shut down in December 2019.[18]

In 2020, GameSpot noted the game's place in the history of cannabis in video games, writing that "As cannabis became less taboo and the smoke cleared from the hysteria sparked by the War on Drugs, more developers devoted entire games to running cannabis enterprises [...] Pot Farm took off [as] American views of cannabis softened, most notably on the political level, state-by-state".[7] HERB had written in 2016 that the game created "the largest cannabis community on earth", with 20 million unique players across its platforms and a 2011 figure of over 1 million users on Facebook.[1]

By the end of 2010, Pot Farm was estimated to be earning its developers $148,000 a month.[7][9] Most of the game's revenue comes from the subscription service offered to its players, and it had a Facebook user score of 4.8 out of 5 from around 107,000 reviews.[9] With the release of the mobile app, and the subsequent shut down of the Facebook app, the game saw its loyal fanbase move platforms with it.[1]

Comparing the game to other popular farming sims, NBC News's Wendy Benedetti said that "this is not your grandmother's Farmville. Unless, of course, your grandmother was a hippie in the '60s... in which case, dude, this is totally her kind of Farmville" and concluded that "[the game] features some decent production values and a zany sense of humor (check out the sketchy wildlife) and that's enough to keep me coming back".[2] David Silverberg for GameSpot also commented on the game, describing it as a "tycoon-type" game that "was a huge hit on Facebook because it didn't sway too far from the core appeal of the extremely popular Farmville ".[7] He credits the rise in cannabis-empire games to Pot Farm's success.[7] MMO Games compared the gameplay, saying that "Pot Farm is Farmville but a lot cooler [...] far less gimmicky and more in-depth" and that it was "the best game of its genre on Facebook".[6] The review notes that the multiplayer aspects are more fun than solo gameplay, but that it is still a fun and accessible game.[6]

HERB said that the game's "dedicated underground fanbase and high levels of engagement are a testament to the game's impressive art, contraband content and strong community engagement", writing that "whether you're a diehard gamer looking for refreshingly fun graphics or a stoner looking to spend time on a perfectly addictive app, Pot Farm: Grass Roots has more than enough to keep any digital pot farmer thoroughly entertained".[1]

Drew Cohen of Kotaku said that the game "operates much as you'd anticipate from a Facebook-hosted farming game", while praising the laid-back attitude of the game and noting that its design was not as "slouchy" as the deadbeat stoners in it.[19] It was nominated for 'Best Social/Casual Game' in the Canadian Videogame Awards 2011, with Benedetti writing "In case you didn't know, the Canadians totally love the cannabis".[2][20]

Fox News, however, reported that the game was controversial and quoted several concerned citizens; while one said that it should not be on Facebook because it is not for children, another noted that when she tried to see what it was from her children's accounts it would not load due to an age block enforced[21] on anyone under 21.[2][9][14] East Bay Express also pointed out that "the game doesn't actually depict anyone ever smoking the plant".[9] The Facebook game operated in a "legal gray area" because of its content, but was also more geared towards medical cannabis (legal enough in California, where Facebook is based, to have not banned the game): its highest-level build was a medical marijuana clinic.[9]

• Official website