Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, that phenomenon is a result of the way that Palm OS works (and most people are not aware of). Even though you can install applications on an expansion card, they can't actually be run from there, and must be in main memory to be executed. In normal operation, when you run an application that has been installed on an expansion card, Palm OS copies that application to main memory to actually run it. When you exit the game normally, the application is deleted from memory to free up the space (but the savegame file remains in main memory).

I spent some time testing after Village Sim was released, and I verified some interesting things about how applications that are installed to an expansion card are handled in various circumstances. If, while running the application, the device is reset (either intentionally or unintentionally), the application is left in main memory and behaves just like you had installed it there, rather than on the card. It stays in main memory and is not deleted when you exit the game. If you then use Palm's "Delete" function to remove the application from main memory, it will also delete that application's data (which, in the case of Village Sim, is the savegame file).

The only safe way to delete the "extra" copy of an application in that kind of situation is to use a file manager application, like FileZ. The good news, however, is that there is a way to get your savegame file back, depending upon when you last HotSynced your Palm. Let me know if you want the details.