Part of the magnetism that VV holds - one reason it has such a diverse audience - one reason the VV line will always outshine hidden item or mystery games - is this issue of bonding.

Without even knowing it is happening new players find this magic emotional link sneaking up on them. It starts with checking up on the village several times during the day; going mushroom hunting to prevent them from going hungry; grieving for that lost villager who laid the cornerstones upon which the mature village will one day rest.

It is interesting that once the village becomes self sufficient and once the first generation of villagers that the player knew and loved finally dies off, the bond is much weaker for the second generation, perhaps because there are more of them so it is harder to keep track of who is who, and they need less attention as the village becomes more and more self sufficient as the game progresses.

I find that usually by the time the village is at the maximum population, I don't really know or care too much about any of them anymore and I find myself clicking around in the graveyard thinking how unfair it is that the ones who devoted their lives to making the village strong never got to see the results of their labors.

Shhhh, don't tell anyone, but I gave some thought once to a utility that would let players right some of the wrongs, but came to the conclusion that without the negatives, the positives would not mean much. Sort of like um, how much fun would a rollercoaster be that only had ups but no downs.

-Borg