Farm online, harvest offline: Virtual farming games attract inflation

Home farming is gaining popularity as inflation continues to drive up the prices of produced goods including eggs and vegetables. Recently, the trend has recently taken an interesting turn, with local e-commerce platforms launching mobile farming games that bear real fruit in the physical world.

Lee Jae-ram, a 33-year-old office worker in Seoul, recently received his "harvest" of bananas in a package via mail, the fruit of his farming efforts in the mobile game, Al-Farm.

Al-Farm is a game that can be played through Alwayz, a shopping app launched in 2021 by Seoul-based startup Levit. Players can farm their own digital vegetables and fruits by purchasing or earning items like fertilizers and water. The items can be also obtained by playing and winning mini games or inviting friends to join the Alwayz app. If a crop bears fruit or becomes fully grown, players can receive the real version of what it produces via the mail.

“There’s the joy of seeing your vegetable or fruit that you’ve spent hours growing come to life,” Lee told The Korea Herald on Nov. 3.