New Facebook Game ‘Poppieville’ Causes Controversy

A controversial new facebook game that has drawn harsh criticism from both politicians and the general public asks players to build an Afghani poppie farm and sell as much opium as you can in order to fund the Taliban rulers in your virtual district.

Zynga LTD, a San Franciscan game developer , released the game on November 2nd.

The game starts you out as a poor Afghani farm boy with very little money. You get a small plot of rugged land which is conveniently situated on the border of Pakistan. You must struggle with the ruling Taliban and invading infidels in order to grow your crop of contraband.

As you progress in the game and earn money, you can then move up the Afghani poppie ladder. Eventually you open up your very own Taliban training camp, next to your poppie farm.

The game depicts the current drugs climate and it is said to be very accurate.

Now and again it sends you message updates to your facebook profile like “A poor wounded infidel walks on to your farm” and the game gives you an option of ‘shoot it’ or ‘call the Taliban’.

American secretary of defence, Robert Michael Gates, has condemned the game. His spokesperson calls it “despicable.”

Pete Torrent, the managing director of Zynga, said the purpose of the game is to provide a realistic environment for users to grow and produce opium and heroin. The gamer who can earn the most money goes into an on-line weekly draw for a free trip to the Afghanistan border.

Poppieville already has two million players on-line and growing.