(fluff)Friends: Facebook Isn't Just for Social Networking Anymore

(fluff)Friends is an application that runs through Facebook. Created by Mike Sego who worked for Google, the (fluff)friends application is like a virtual pet game. Think of the Tamagachi virtual pets that were all the rage in the '90s and you will have some idea of what this application is about. However, it is much more complex and complicated than the little key-chain petting games that were so popular back then. You can choose from a variety of animals to adopt as a pet, many of them are on the endangered species list. You can then give them habitats, decorations and mini fluffs for their habitats. You can also feed them. All of the pets and decorations are very colorful and cute too!

(fluff)Friends even has it's own economy. To buy regular items, you must pet and race other fluffs to get "munny," which is the normal currency of (fluff)book. You can also earn "munny" if other people come by and pet your fluff pet back. There is also gold, which can be bought with real US currency. The cost is 10 gold to $1 USD. Certain special items can only be bought with gold. It is not required that you spend any real money, the game is just as fun without buying any and there are other ways to obtain gold. Also, the developers do not keep all of the money for the functioning and upgrading of the application, instead ten percent of all purchases are donated to the World Wildlife Fund. The application is continually evolving and has seen major improvements over the last few months.

So, what can you do with your virtual pet once you've adopted it? Besides setting it up in it's habitat with cute decorations and other mini pets, you get to choose from a variety of foods to feed your pet. Various foods will give them a speed boost and so they are more likely to win races. Your fluff pet will not like all foods, and the amount of speed that your fluff gets from a particular food will vary. You want your fluff pet to be fast, because you can win a lot of "munny" from betting on the fluff races. You must feed your pet often, as the speed boosts only last for thirty days.

You can also gain "munny" as I said above by petting other people's fluff pets. One way to find other fluffs to pet is by going to the forum or to a petting zoo. There are many of them and all you need to do google 'Fluff Zoo.'

Gifting is also part of the application. You can give gifts to friends who have installed the application and adopted a fluff. This is a nice way to interact with your friends, to send them cute little items that they can display on their (fluff)book page.

If you do not have any friends who have installed the application you can send them invites to do so through Facebook. You get "munny" for each friend that you invite, and if they accept the invite, you get an Invite Point, which can be used to buy special mini pets that are only available to get with Invite Points. If you do not have many friends on Facebook, don't worry, you can also spend gold to buy Invite Points.

There are contests occasionally as well, where you can compete to win super rare items that you cannot buy. The most recent was an art contest.

You can also choose to have your (fluff)book display on your Facebook profile so that everyone who can see your profile can see it even if they do not have the application installed. It is also kid friendly, so you can let your children play too. I know of whole families that enjoy playing on the application.

Did I mention that this game is addicting? Some people find that it takes up a good deal of their time. The application is very successful with around 200,000 users on any given day, and has had over five million people install the application. I personally find that it is a good way to relax after a stressful day at work. If you want to play an online game that is rewarding and cute, check out the (Fluff)Book application.