FarmVille, a Facebook-based multiplayer game, is an amazing story of rapid growth. When Zynga, the game's parent company, launched the game last June, it grew to 25,000 players in 24 hours and to a million a few days later.

The game is based on farming, planting, growing and harvesting imaginary crops. Players hail from all over the globe and can virtually arrange their farms next to each other. Some players feel they are learning to appreciate the toils of their ancestors who lived off the soil. Others think it's just good, clean fun and has little to do with the realities of actual farming (Kelly Jane Torrance, "FarmVille Turning Hipsters Into Farmers," The Washington Times, Oct. 16, 2009).

On a recent episode of his talk show, psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw confronted a mom who was obsessed with the game and neglecting her family, telling her, "You have a ridiculous addiction to a ridiculous computer game that's interfering with your ability to be a mother." His prescription? "Get out of FarmVille—start a garden for real!" (Dr. Phil, Jan. 20, 2010).