Overtaking FarmVille at the start of 2011, with over 100 million active users, Zynga’s micro-management sim CityVille is, unsurprisingly, the most popular game on Facebook.

Now the publisher is looking to remunerate all of those devotees for their Zynga game time by introducing its own incentivisation scheme RewardVille.

Reap what you sow

"With RewardVille, our aim is to delight players by rewarding them with new Zynga-level points, and exclusive limited edition virtual items," says Roy Sehgal, vice president, Zynga.

"We love that you love our games, so here’s your chance to reap some rewards!"

As a cross-game rewards program, RewardVille is breaking new territory, allowing gamers to level up and accrue zPoints / zCoins across the entire Zynga portfolio.

Here’s the kicker: the more often you play CityVille or Mafia Wars, and the more games you engage in, the faster you earn rewards.

Rack 'em up

In a single day, players can rack up as many as 80 zPoints per game or 300 in total, which will go some way towards purchasing that irresistible ‘Stepped Skyscraper’.

Mystery gifts can be sent to friends and family regardless of which Zynga game is their current vice. The presents are exchanged by the recipients for z-currency and redeemed at RewardVille’s checkout for exclusive in-app items.

To sign up for RewardVille, visit the official site. And if you join this incentive scheme during the month of March, you’ll receive one free item per game.

However it's not clear how the scheme will work on mobile devices, with Apple in particular banning open virtual currencies on iOS. It will also be interesting to see the reaction of Facebook, which has its own Credits system; something it and Zynga have previously clashed over.

[source: Business Wire]