FRIDAY FUNNY: Not Farmville, But Plantville

Those of you with any exposure to Facebook or iPhones have probably heard of a game called Farmville. Some of you may have even played it! According to the Wikipedia definition, the point of this game is “to manage a virtual farm by plowing land, planting, growing and harvesting virtual crops, harvesting trees and bushes, and by raising livestock” with the assistance of friends (and anyone else willing) within the social networking community.

Now there’s a new game in town along the same lines—but with an interesting twist—a FACILITY MANAGEMENT twist, in fact. Called Plantville, this multimedia experience was developed as an “engaging and informative plant simulation that puts you right in the shoes of the plant manager.” Launched last month by Siemens Industry, Plantville gives players the chance to face the challenge of maintaining the operation of their plant while trying to improve the productivity, efficiency, sustainability, and overall health of their facility.

“Siemens is capitalizing on the tremendous growth of online engagement to demonstrate how our expertise can make industry and infrastructure more competitive by increasing sustainability, energy efficiency, and productivity in a fun and educational environment,” said Daryl Dulaney, president and CEO, Siemens Industry, Inc. “We also hope Plantville will generate excitement in the areas of math, science, and technology while inspiring a new generation of plant managers and engineers.

This video provides a basic overview of Plantville:

Throughout the game, players will be able to interact with Pete the Plant Manager, whose plant has just won the “Plant of the Year” award. Pete shares his best practices throughout the game to help players achieve outstanding results in plant performance. He will use webisodes, the Plantville Cafe (a fun and educational platform that offers periodic online chat sessions with Pete on topics like process control, energy efficiency, industrial networking and more), Puzzlers (brain teasers that test a gamer’s problem solving abilities and provide tips to enhance their play), and Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter accounts to dialogue with gamers, provide hints to playing the game, and host a leader board for contestants.

In Plantville, players can select which of the three virtual plants they would like to manage first: a bottling plant, a vitamin plant, or a plant that builds trains. At the start of the game, each type of plant is faced with different challenges. The players must identify the challenges facing their plant and implement solutions to improve the plant’s KPIs. Gamers will compete with one another on a number of levels, including plant-to-plant and on specific KPIs. Pete’s leader board will keep track of which players are performing the best on each of the levels.

Plantville, like the plants within it, will undergo updates and changes. Siemens will continue to develop and enhance this innovative platform to reflect the continuing advancement of its technologies, as well as other elements that change or have an impact on industry and infrastructure.

To register to download the game and get started playing, visit this link.


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