I want to click it and forget it for a while

October 17, 2009 7:19 PM

I'm looking for games that progress in real time, similar to Farmville on Facebook.

They can be browser-based or on XBox 360.

I used to play Ogame at ogame.org, in which you mine for resources that you need to build a starfleet in order to go raid other planets. The really impressive ships would take days at a time to complete. The problem with Ogame (besides the stupid name) was the level of attention it required lest some hardcore player raid your fleet when you least expect it. So basically I'd like something a little more casual, like Farmville, which I find kind of addicting (today I made a block M out of maize and blueberries).

If you don't know exactly what I mean, I'm looking for other games that sort of do their work while the player is not present. For example, in Farmville, you plant your crops, and, say, 8 real life hours later, they have grown and can be harvested. Do you know any games that use a similar mechanic?

posted by Team of Scientists to media & arts (18 comments total)

There's also Farmtown (by Slashkey) on Facebook, which is very similar to Farmville. Offhand, I don't know any other games that progress in realtime where you can't be attacked when you're away.
posted by Cricket at 7:26 PM on October 17

The other Zynga Facebook games are similar in some ways - I love the Cafe one.
posted by mazienh at 7:31 PM on October 17

OP here. I suppose wishing for no attacking is asking for a bit much. Please feel free to share those too.
posted by Team of Scientists at 7:35 PM on October 17

I'd love something like this - complete with a rich client, and something you can get as involved as you want, or not .

I recall an old BBS turn-based game. It had a dedicated client - you'd download the days moves from a BBS (a datafile) - load it into your client, do all your research, plan all your moves/stragies/trades/whatever, upload/mail the changes back to the server within an allotted timeframe.. adn the server would publish new moves the next day.

There was something about the pace of this that was really interesting.. and the internet focus on realtime has really made these rare.

Something like EVE online, but without the absurd time commitment to make it worthwhile.
posted by TravellingDen at 7:37 PM on October 17

I may be mistaken (never played 'em), but I think the Viva Pinata games (for Xbox 360) might have some of these elements.
posted by box at 7:40 PM on October 17

I used to play Earth 2025 when I was younger. There's attacking involved -- that's the point of the game -- but there's a number of servers each tweaked a bit differently, catering to casual, competitive, or team players. And the passage of time is pretty interesting; it's real-time in that players on your server are always doing things, but each action by a single individual requires a turn (or turns), of which you rack up one every half-hour or so (depending on your server). Then, when you log on, you spend all, or just a few, of your turns building, attacking, or what have you.
posted by SpringAquifer at 7:57 PM on October 17

There are attacks in this game, but I think you can avoid it with alliances (I have never played, friends do): Travian
posted by ishotjr at 7:58 PM on October 17

Hattrick, which is a football management game. Games are played Sunday and Wednesday (in realtime, if you want to watch them unfold), the player market is always open.
posted by pompomtom at 8:02 PM on October 17

The progression of Virtual Villagers takes place over time. No attackers, but bad things can happen (storms, etc) while you're gone.
posted by LeiaS at 8:05 PM on October 17

The Sims progresses unattended, and is fun and addictive. (Like, seriously: book time off work addictive.)
posted by DarlingBri at 8:10 PM on October 17

Well, I just found out about this thing called Virtual Regatta. I heard it explained as "fantasy sailing".

Apparantly it uses real time NOAA weather data from around the world to let people race in real time using "real" wind. Set heading and check back in a few days, and watch the weather channel to make sure you are not heading to any storms.
posted by DetonatedManiac at 8:32 PM on October 17

Skyrates seems to fit all the requirements, and there's no way for players to attack one another; all your combat is against pirates.
posted by wanderingmind at 9:04 PM on October 17

Another Farming game on Facebook is Barn Buddy.
posted by soelo at 9:27 PM on October 17

I play a couple of games (including FarmVille!) on Facebook:
Mafia Wars - you must wait for your energy points to regenerate. You're prone to being attacked randomly, but generally restricted to shortly after you stop playing; at most, you lose some of whatever money you didn't put away and up to 6 xp if you're snuffed. There are various clones as well, like a Hogwarts-themed one, where dueling is much more formalized.

My Zoo - a PHP-based game instead of a Flash-based game, you do zoo management; no disasters, just working towards expanding your zoo and breeding rare animals. I check in once or twice a day, because breeding takes actual days to have a successful attempt, gestate, and give birth/hatch.

Happy Aquarium - you raise fish to breed and sell; unlike some other games I've played, if you neglect your fish they don't die, they just stop growing. You can help out your friends who play (clean their tank, collect money).

Several of my friends have joined other games and enjoyed them, like Zynga's YoVille, Sorority Life, some restaurant and theme-park tycoon types as well. You're likely to find most of these types of games on Facebook or dedicated forums, because this kind of game is basically user persistence + casual gaming.


As far as non-online games go, fewer of them are the 'click and forget' type, because game designers tend to assume that if you're playing a game, you actually want to play it. Too many people would be bored otherwise. The simulator genre is probably what you want to look at for ideas on PC.

Zoo Tycoon 2 - a pc zoo game that's quite a bit of fun! This is probably my favorite of the zoo games I've played, and it's immersive and 3D. I have a hard time convincing myself to hire zoo staff because it lets you go do all their duties yourself.

Viva Pinata - it's a fun game (PC and XBox), but does also require more management. You can just fire and forget, but the game won't keep advancing without you. Also, sometimes the bad pinatas come and do evil things and I feel guilty if I don't save my pinatas from them.

Creatures 3 (Docking Station) - a genetics simulator with creatures that learn (and have a basic syntax parser). Docking Station is free, Creatures 3 may be harder to find (bonus: ecology simulators), but it's extremely easy to just sit back and watch. There's plenty of downloadable content people have made to do "Wolfling Runs", i.e. generations of creatures completely independent of any Hand involvement to see what interesting mutations come up. Plus, they're cute and get some interesting ideas in their simulated heads. Creatures 1 and 2 may be worth finding/playing if you are interested in C3, but they're more limited.

StarTopia - A space station simulator where you're the administrator. Once you get the basics set up, it's easy to just sit back and watch, although it does throw a few curveballs your way. I can never stay away from growing and harvesting on the BioDeck! :)
posted by bookdragoness at 10:44 PM on October 17 [1 favorite has favorites]

The Animal Crossing series is a very relaxing, real-time set of games. The first two are emulatable... probably even the Wii version now, if your PC is powerful.
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 1:50 AM on October 18

I've just started playing Nile Online, which I discovered here on AskMeFi. It has a very light and totally optional combat component that you can't really take part in until you've progressed pretty far in the game. It's also pretty nice for playing at work since it's browser-based and it only demands your attention every few hours.
posted by AtomicBee at 5:43 AM on October 18 [1 favorite has favorites]

Also, Nile Online is free, in case you're into that sort of thing.
posted by AtomicBee at 5:50 AM on October 18

Harvest Moon sounds very similar to Farmville (though I haven't played Farmville). In Harvest Moon, you are a farmer in a little town and you have to try to support yourself by planting crops and watering them. Certain crops take a certain amount of game-time days to grow, so I don't think it actually involves real time. You harvest, sell your food, cook dinners, buy livestock like chickens and cows. You can mate your livestock and they will have babies. So, more cows means more milk. It sounds boring but it is really addictive. Your game goes through seasons, you can try to woo your favorite girl in the town, get married, have a kid.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 for PC is really fun. You build roller coasters in a theme park, can be tricky because your coaster has to work without crashing, and it can't be too boring or too intense, because then no one will ride it. There are lots of pre-made rides that you can build if you have enough money, so you don't do all the building yourself. So, you have to build a cool theme park, make money, and please the guests. Similar concept to Zoo Tycoon that someone mentioned above, but I like Roller Coaster Tycoon better.

Earl mentioned Animal Crossing, and that really is real time. If you don't play for a while, your mailbox gets full and you get roaches in your house, and neighbors will wonder where you've been. When you play on holidays, July 4th for example, there will be a celebration and fireworks display, etc.

An old game that I really loved years ago, but I think its for N64, is Pokemon Snap. You ride around in a cart and take pictures of strange creatures. It's very relaxing and has lots of replay value because you keep wanting to get better shots and improve your photo album.
posted by Bazoo at 7:23 PM on October 23