Welcome to your ville.

YoVille is a place where you can create your own world, have your own house, your own pet, and a job that’s willing to pay you generously in 6-hour increments. Sure it’s virtual, but it’s yours.

You enter your world with the option to create how you look—long hair, short hair, leather boots, Speedo—whatever your pleasure. The color of your skin is an option as well. In most cases I would assume that most choose a tone that closely resembles their real life flesh. Yet, others may not—maybe curious to see how it feels to live in someone else’s skin. Your body is finished and it’s time to go to work, need to make some money to put some furniture in the bachelor pad. On the way to the Widget Factory you’re welcomed with invitations to play a game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors” or “Tic-Tac-Toe.” You gladly accept, collect your coins in victory, and make your way through the crowd gathered around the timecard machine.

Three seconds later you’re finished with work. You stretch your arms and make your way back home. Standing next to your YoVille-issued sofa you stare at the windowless walls, dreaming of what your place will look like someday. Wood floors, Asian wall-hangings, big screen TV, and maybe even some nice windows that come with those winter snowflakes inside—there’s no limit to the possibilities of your world. You realize that someday you may save enough money to move out of your humble place and move up in the world. Buy one of those Cape Cod or Gothic homes you saw brochures for at the Realtor Office. Shoot, dream big or not at all—Contemporary home here you come. But wait, those cost $40 in YoCash. The factory only pays in coins so someday, when the time is right, and you meet the right person to share it with, you’ll have to pull out the credit card and claim your dream. After all, the exchange rate is at $5 YoCash to $1 U.S.—doesn’t get much better than that.

You are immersed in what you have earned and even more immersed in what you yearn to have. You work hard, showing up to collect a paycheck every chance you get (whenever you have access to a computer), and with every new purchase your lips stretch in satisfaction. There is no one to tell you what to do or who you are. You have the greatest life in the world and for some reason feeling virtually good has something real to do with actually feeling good. Nice. Time to turn in for now, six hours until my next shift…I mean your shift.