Weeds TV series gets official Facebook game, makes your computer smell like pot

By Rick Marshall August 30, 2011

It’s not surprising that there’s yet another Facebook game that encourages players to engage in legally questionable virtual activities. What is surprising, however, is that this one is a bona fide, officially licensed, television series tie-in product.

Weeds Social Club offers players the opportunity to grow, sell, and otherwise get into the drug business with some assistance from the cast of the award-winning Showtime television series Weeds.

In the game, you play a down-and-out character having some serious money issues. So what do you do when you’re facing an impending eviction? You get into the drug game, of course.

The initial stages of the game offer a tutorial narrated by Andy Botwin himself (played by Justin Kirk in the series), the brother of the television series’ main character, Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker). Once you’re given a 101 on how to grow, harvest, store, and distribute the product of your horticultural endeavors, you’re free to make your way up the pot-dealing ladder. And since it’s a Facebook game, you can also interact with other players who participate in the game.

My brief play-through of the game — which is currently in beta stage — stalled out around the time I went to visit Andy and pick up some of his stash, so developers Ecko|Code and Mytopia might have a few more bugs to work out. Even so, the game seems to echo its source material by having some surprisingly good music playing as you do, well… whatever drug-friendly things you’re doing in the game.

Still, if the world of Weeds is something you’re interested in, this could be the Facebook game for you.

Oh, and don’t worry. The game doesn’t actually make your computer smell like a college dorm — at least, not yet. Future updates could change that, though.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…

Gaming

Nintendo Switch 2: release date rumors, features we want, and more

Prime Day Nintendo Switch Deals

Rumors of a Nintendo Switch 2 (or Switch Pro) have been circulating for years. Whispers of the next-gen Nintendo console first started when The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomwas first teased in 2019, gained steam when the Switch OLED launched in 2021, and are increasing now that the standard Switch has been out for six years.

There's no doubt that the Nintendo Switch is a fantastic console -- it has a unique and impressive game library (with more upcoming games slated for this year), the number of features included with Nintendo Switch Online is constantly improving, and it's still our favorite portable console -- but it isn't without its flaws. There's enough room for improvement tod warrant an entirely new console in the near future. Nintendo recently announced that we won't see a Switch upgrade in the next fiscal year, meaning the absolute earliest we get a look at a new Nintendo console would be in late 2024.

Gaming

Frostpunk 2’s beta offers a gripping slice of stressful city-building

Key art for Frostpunk 2

Typically, playing city-based or civilization-building games is a relaxing experience for me. There’s an inherent satisfaction in something I created in Cities: Skylines 2 or Mini Motorways running efficiently based on my actions. I’m content with spending dozens of hours crafting a functioning world, and only occasionally having my skills tested in a high-intensity situation. Frostpunk 2 from 11 bit Studios is a city-builder where those feelings are often reversed. Most of my time playing its beta was extremely stressful, as I constantly had to make difficult decisions in order to preserve a society that established itself in a frosty postapocalypse.

For all 300 in-game weeks of playtime that Frostpunk 2’s Utopia Builder mode beta offers, I was constantly facing the looming threat of dwindling resources and multiple political factions all vying for my attention and power, all while trying to build a civilization up. While that got extremely stressful, I'm already gripped by my short time with Frostpunk 2.
Stay frosty
While the original Frostpunk was a real-time strategy game about rebuilding a single settlement, 11 bit Studios has previously explained that this sequel is about leading that established settlement into a thriving civilization. The world of Frostpunk has not gotten any more forgiving; it’s still a postapocalyptic place with intense frost and little in the way of resources. The mose I played, Utopia Builder, is Frostpunk 2’s free-building mode. In it, players aren’t tied down to a prewritten story; as such, this beta is designed purely to give players a look into most of Frostpunk 2’s gameplay system -- and it does that in spectacular fashion. At a basic level, players need to build up their city while earning money and providing enough heat, shelter, and food to minimize death.

Gaming

How to sign up for the Rogue Prince of Persia alpha test

Key art of the Prince in The Rogue Prince of Persia.

After the launch of the excellent Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown at the beginning of 2024, no one was expecting a second game in the franchise so soon. And yet, The Rogue Prince of Persia was revealed during the Triple-I Initiative as a roguelike take on the genre. Coming from the developer of Dead Cells , this game was one of the highlights of the show thanks to it's slick gameplay and unique and fluid art style. There was no release date given, but the game is entering early access May 14. However, you can get your hands on it even earlier if you apply to participate in the alpha test.