Zynga launches new mobile FarmVille game

Social and mobile games company Zynga has launched FarmVille 2: Country Escape last week, a new FarmVille game designed especially for mobile devices.

Unlike Zynga’s previous attempts to bring FarmVille to mobile devices simply as an extension of the PC game, FarmVille 2: Country Escape was designed based on mobile players’ feedback. It has an offline mode, which allows you to play wherever and then connect to the internet to save progress, and also an Anonymous Mode, which allows you to complete quests, sell goods, and expand your farm without the social features the series is known for.

Of course, FarmVille 2: Country Escape is free-to-play with in-app purchases, and still has all the social features that can accelerate progress.

The game had a solid debut on the iTunes App Store, coming in as the third top free game in the Top Free Apps chart, and number 42 on the Top Grossing chart. It broke into the top 100 free games on Google Play, but didn’t make as big of a splash there.

FarmVille 2: Country Escape is also the most notable game Zynga has launched since former Xbox executive Don Matrick left Microsoft to join Zynga as its Chief Executive Officer in July 2013.

"I joined Zynga because I believe that [Mark Pincus'] pioneering vision and mission to connect the world through games is just getting started," Matrick said at the time. "Zynga is a great business that has yet to realize its full potential."