Once you turn on your Gameboy (with the cartrige inserted of course) and reach the title screen press the START Button to continue. If you leave the game at the title screen you'll eventually watch some scenes on how to plant Rice, use your rucksack, and breed animals.

After pressing the START Button you'll reach then opening screen. You will have five different selections you can make.

• Start - Choose this to start a new game.
• Load - If you have already started a game then selecting this will continue your game. You have two save slots to store games in.
• Copy - When you have one saved game in the first slot and you want to make a backup save to the second slot then select Copy. If you have two games saved already and you choose to copy one of them, your second game will be erased. Be careful!
• Erase - If you want to erase one of your two saved slots. Remember you cant get the saved game back after you erase!
• Trade - Activate this to trade between two different games of Harvest Moon 3.

Once you select START to begin a new game you can choose between playing a Boy game or a Girl game.

• Boy - In charge of taking care of crops while the girl partner takes care of the animals. If you're nice enough to her she'll marry you. Eventually the two of you will have children.
• Girl - In charge of taking care of all the animals while the boy partner takes care of the crops. You can also get married to your partner but your game ends right afterwards. There is no opportunity to have children.

After you pick your character then you choose a name for yourself. The next step is choosing the color of your chothes. This is where it gets fun!

To change the color of your clothes, select Clothes or Bandana. The cursor will drop down to the Red/Green/Blue box, where you can press the LEFT Button or RIGHT Button on your Gameboy to change the colors. You will see a preview of what you've selected on the farmers to the left. Selecting Standard will return the colors to the default red and blue. Selecting Ok will continue on.

One thing to remember is that when you change the colors of the Clothes and Bandana, it affects everything of that same color in the game. For example Elza (one of the villagers) wears red clothes but if you change the Bandana color to green, then she'll wear green clothes when you see her. You might even end up with a horse that has a green tail! Here are a few color examples you could use. Be creative!

Clothes Red: 25 Green: 07 Blue: 31	Bandana Red: 05 Green: 15 Blue: 31	Clothes Red: 00 Green: 25 Blue: 10	Bandana Red: 25 Green: 05 Blue: 00	Clothes Red: 31 Green: 31 Blue: 31	Bandana Red: 31 Green: 00 Blue: 31

After you selected your colors and press Ok, then you pick your birthday. It doesn't matter what season or date you choose since you'll receive the same gift from your partner every year. If I told you what you get as a gift then it wouldn't be a surprise! After you select your birthday then you get to choose your blood type. In Japan it is said you can tell a person's personality by his or her blood type.

• Type A - Calm and orderly, but serious and stubborn.
• Type B - Sensitive and independant, but lazy and unpredictable.
• Type O - Athletic and healthy, but obsesive and materialistic.
• Type AB - Honest and organized, but conservative and unforgiving.

Once you select your blood type then you get to pick your pet! There are 8 different pets to select from. Three types of dogs (small, medium, and large), three types of cats (pink, gray, or brown), a pig, and a falcon. The dogs protect the animals you leave outside overnight, the cats and falcon bring home seeds, and the pig will find money. Then give your pet a name. It's also good to remember that your pet will only use its talent if it's left outside.

The last thing that you have to do is pick a name for your partner. By default the boy's name is Pete and the girl's name is Sara. You can change it if you want. Once you select the partner's name you reach a summary screen where you see all of your selections. You can press Yes to continue or No to change something. Once you're comfortable with your choices then select Yes and get ready to farm!