Newstalk 870 Talks to Creator of ‘Pot Farm’ on Facebook!

After a recent Newstalk 870 story on our website about the Facebook game Pot Farm, we heard from the creators themselves!

Derek Bolen is the Community Director for East Side Games that provide a variety of games seen on various social network platforms all over the web including Facebook. They include "Dragon-Up," "Ruby Skies," and "Zombinis," just to name a few.

We asked Bolen a few questions about where they got the idea, how it's been received, and what possible changes could be coming to the game. We also asked the company's position on marijuana legalization in Washington and Colorado. In the first part of a two-part series, we start tossing the questions!

What was the Inspiration for Pot Farm?

"We were making Facebook games at the time and we also saw an amazing opportunity to build a game that was funny and, well, kinda out there. We wanted to build a game that was generous with virtual currency, had real sharing and interaction and hilarious subject matter. Some of us are a bit older and liked some iconic franchises like Cheech & Chong and the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. I think the more important question is, how can you not make a game about this? At the time Facebook came out and it was quite open to new games, other platforms not so much. I mean, can you imagine Pot Farm on Xbox or Playstation? We would love it but probably not going to happen..."

Did Pot Farm have anything to do with the marijuana initiatives in Washington and Colorado?

"We actually precede the initiatives in WA and Colorado by a few years (ahead of our time, we guess), but we made sure we honored the initiatives in our game with two new digital "strains" (Washington Weed and Colorado Kush). They're both still available!"

Do the makers of Pot Farm support the marijuana initiatives?

"Awesome and important question. Pot Farm is a game by the people for the people so we want to walk the line with this. We want to have a community that has a voice and channel to interact and bond over our favorite plant. We want to help make those connections and get people to celebrate maybe something that, to this point, has been pretty marginalized. So any progress in this way is positive."

We suggested they incorporate the ability to stage DEA-style raids on other peoples farms. Not sure if they will take us up on that, but to find out more about what's behind one of the fastest growing (no pun intended) games on Facebook. Check back here at Newstalk870.am for Part II of our interview with Derek Bolen of East Side Games!