Zynga's PrivacyVille: A silly mini game about a serious issue

When Zynga can't think of a better name for a product, slapping a good old 'Ville' on there does the trick. PrivacyVille sounds like the company's next big game, but on the contrary. It is Zynga's way of communicating the issues of Internet privacy to its fans--through a mini game.

This interactive tutorial, available now right here, rewards players with zPoints to use in RewardVille for learning everything there is to know about the intersections of Internet privacy and Zynga games.The "game," clearly inspired by CityVille, is largely a series of pop-up windows explaining each facet of the company's privacy policy plainly.

Each broken-down explanation provides links to all the tools at your disposal to edit your privacy settings with both Zynga and Facebook. After you read all of the information, Zynga will quiz you on what you learned. (And trust us, there's no way you can lose this one.) Once you're done, you will be asked to connect to RewardVille to collect your 200 zPoint reward.

While this certainly isn't the next big game we're all waiting for, it's an interesting take on privacy. Most companies merely place their privacy policies in a wall of text that no one in their right mind would waste time reading, but Zynga knows its audience. And its audience has learned to play countless Zynga games, so why not treat this lesson as one? It certainly makes sense, but ... PrivacyVille? Really, guys?

Click here to participate in PrivacyVille Now >

What do you think of Zynga's new approach to educating its players about privacy? What is your take on social games and their effects on our privacy? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.