The lure this time is RewardVille ," a show of appreciation aimed at getting players even more absorbed in their online farms, cities, crime rings and poker games. The program unveiled a week ago doles out game points and credits that can be used to buy more virtual goodies on Zynga's existing games. It's the latest attempt to deepen people's attachment to Zynga's strangely addictive world at a time attention spans are becoming more fickle. Several entertainment options now bombard people on an array of digital devices.
Zynga's success in capturing people's free time so far has been remarkable - and profitable, according to the privately held company's executives.
Its games are simple, but getting ahead requires time and dedication. In CityVille ," for example, players start with a simple plot of land, roads and buildings. They can add businesses, farms and landmarks through lots of faithful dragging and clicking of the mouse. They can invite friends to play and send them virtual gifts.
All games are free to play, but players can pay real money - a few coins or dollars at a time - to buy special items or reach a higher level of play more quickly. Since CEO Mark Pincus launched the San Francisco startup in 2007, Zynga has attracted about 250 million game players - most of whom connect on Facebook's even larger Web hangout. Zynga's audience is somewhere between the population of the US and Indonesia, the world's third and fourth most populous countries. Zynga has grown so fast that it already has 1,500 employees and recently moved into a larger headquarters, which can accommodate several hundred more workers.
