Who knew that the secret dream of millions was to be a farmer? Zynga did, that’s who!Zynga is a gaming company with a number of strategy games, most of which are integrated with Facebook. One of the most popular of these games is Farmville. It’s a Utopian world filled with clear skies and plenty of sunshine for growing crops and raising animals. It’s a great cyber-place to work hard and relax all at the same time; a carefree world far removed from the pressures ofeveryday life.The whole point of the game is to plant crops, harvest them before they rot, collect coins and cash to buy goodies for building your own dream farm, gain experience points, earn ribbons,help your neighbor, and get help in kind. It’s quite possible to go it alone if you’re a bit on the introverted side, but much more fun can be had if you socialize and interact with your neighbors.Plus you’ll be able to grow your farm much faster and reach higher levels sooner if you’ll allow yourself to be somewhat of a social butterfly.One thing that may not occur to very many people is that Farmville can also be a great educational game—listen up homes choolers and teachers! It requires a bit of strategy to knowwhat to plant or buy, keeping your fuel supply in check, and keeping track of when to harvest. This makes Farmville a Critical Thinking skill builder extraordinaire. And, keeping track of coins and cash aren’t bad for stretching the math muscles either. A foreign concept to those of us born back in the day, ROI (Return on Investment) is a widely understood term with today’s kidsafter becoming frequent players of Farmville.Players have to be responsible too: forget to harvest in time and the crops will wither or the animals will wander off. There’s no violence whatsoever and cooperation among neighbors isthe lesson for the day. How many games can claim so many benefits for all the fun that goes along with it?