This article published in the GAME, the Italian Journal of Game Studies, looks at FrontierVille — also known as The Pioneer Trail. It explores why Zynga’s games are not explicitly free-to-play, rather Zynga provides the player with an option of paying through currency or through referral value (media value). This actually drives the games’ viralibility, and thus their popularity. Second, it illustrates how many social network games do not rely on a core design based around social interactions, but rather structure social interactions so that players interact with their friends in a way that is eerily similar to that of a player interacting with a non-player character (NPC). We’ll explore how this social construction allows players to experience a desired feeling of sociality, without having to provide the typical level of commitment required for the average social game. And finally, this paper explains why many of Zynga’s engaging “games” are not full-fledged games, but exemplify the “gamification of clicking”.”