Upcoming Releases
Japan SoS:AWL (Switch) - January 26, 2023
image SoS:AWL (multi) - June 27, 2023
Europe SoS:AWL (multi) - June 27, 2023
image HM: Winds of Anthos - September 27, 2023
Europe HM: Winds of Anthos - October 6, 2023
Ushi No Tane


Official Bokumono Website


Natsume


XSeed Games


@Cherubae on Twitter

Subscribe to me on YouTube

The Ushi No Tane websites specialize in information, FAQs, and guides about the Nintendo console versions of the Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, and Legend of the River King video games. These game genres are created and published in Japan by Marvelous (JP). In other regions, you'll find Natsume, XSeed Games/Marvelous (USA), Marvelous (EU), and Rising Star involved in the series' release.

The latest version of the mainstream farming series that have been released in various regions of the world are:

The latest version of River King, in all regions of the world, is River King: Mystic Valley (JP 2007, NA 2008, EU 2009).

Since 2000, Ushi no Tane has been run by a grouchy old lady who happens to be fond of video game agriculture along with two feline helpers: Intern Captain Bootu and Intern Hondo Mewnaka. The website is not officially affiliated, sponsored, endorsed, or employed by the developers of Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, or River King. This is simply a fan site.

Latest Farming Video Game News


Indie Game Updates, Sakuna Anime, Piczle Cross Interview, and Steam Spring Sale | Posted at 04:18 PM 15 March 2024
photograph

Happy Farm'n Friday! It is springtime! Oh yes, it is! I know technically that the switchover is next Tuesday, but the plants in the neighborhood say it's happening now. My spring bulb patch is still emerging, but this group of plants in the neighborhood is already in bloom. It's beginning to smell nice outside, too. Ah, yay, springtime. How I missed you.

Now that the weather is warming up, the plants living in the laundry room can go back outside for the year. I'm sure they're tired of dealing with Intern Captain's attempts to nibble on their leaves. I can then use that space to start veggie and flower seedlings.

Woooo, let's goooooo springtime! Auu yea!


Rice Farming Anime

The popular grain-farming game Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin will become a television anime show in Japan. Animation studio P.A. Works (Uma Musume season 1, Professor Layton video game series, etc.) is producing the show, which will air on TV Tokyo sometime in 2024. Not much is known about how many episodes the anime will run or the date when it will air. Some of the original voice actors from the video game will be reprising their roles in the anime, such as Naomi Ozora as Sakuna, Takashi Narumi as guardian Tama, Rika Kunugawa as the goddess Kokorowa, and more.

Some of the cast of the Sakuna anime will appear at Anime Japan at the TV Tokyo booth on March 24 from 3:25 pm until 4:00 pm in Tokyo. This will also be live-streamed and then made available for replay until June 24 on the TV Tokyo Youtube channel.

A short teaser trailer has also been released if you want to check it out!


Indie Game Updates

Skyreach Studio's Critter Crops: Mystery of Mullery Mansion will be released on April 15. This uniquely stylized farming game has players growing weird creature crops to help unlock the mysteries of Mutter Island. Additional lore quests are planned for future releases.


The crowdfunding campaign for Roka Play's Sugardew Island is still going strong, with several stretch goals completed. There are 19 days left in the campaign. Roka stated that romance wasn't initially planned for the game (as it's a farming + store management sim), but recently published a poll on Twitter/X asking how important that aspect was for players.


The contents of the upcoming 1.2 and 1.3 updates for Soda Den's Roots of Pacha were announced. Version 1.2 will bring an XBox release, child growth along with school construction, more options for the location of the partnership ceremony, item gathering for pets, and an updated look for the fishing mini-game. Version 1.3 is mammoth-sized (ha!) and includes four new marriage candidates, 18 normal villagers, more regions, another cave to explore, two new festivals, more animals to care for, new plant variations, additional cut scenes and quests, and much more.

Version 1.2 is planned to be released in early Quarter 3 (July/Aug/Sept). Version 1.3 will naturally come after that sometime.


Unwound Game's historical life sim farming game, Echoes of the Plum Grove will be released on April 29. Live in the colonial town of Honeywood, where players will farm, interact with the villagers, survive the winter, and raise a family. Inevitably, the player's protagonist will die (disease, old age, etc.; times were rough back then), but gameplay can continue if the protagonist has a child.

A short, free demo is currently available from the game's Steam store page:


Japanese countryside farming game SunnySide will be in playable form at the MIX Spring Game Showcase taking place on March 18 during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) next week in San Francisco. Based on player feedback, Rainy Games updated their free SunnySide demo today, enabling save functionality and making corrections.


Also included in the MIX Showcase is a new farming game titled Kohlrabi Starship. Players take over a greenhouse spaceship, growing plants to help revitalize the ecosystem of their desert homeworld. Find rare seeds, repair the ship, romance travelers, and befriend a colony of feral cats. Meow. A teaser trailer for this hand-drawn style of farming game is available on the official website:


Weird-physics farming multi-player game Southfield is participating in the MIX GDC event as well. Grow crops with unexpected effects and protect the farm from the night-emerging Ruffians.


The PC version of summer vacation farming game Everdream Valley (Steam, Epic, GoG) has multi-player support as of yesterday. A player and up to three friends can run around their farm, caring for crops and animals, catching bugs, exploring the land, playing mini-games, fishing, and whatnot. Co-op support comes with the base game. No news yet about multi-player support for Switch and PlayStation versions.


Piczle Interview

Famitsu recently sat down for an interview with Hikaru Nakano (BM Series Manager at Marvelous) and James Kei (CEO of Score Studios) about the latest cross-over game, Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons.

Mr. Kei noted that when he and publisher Rainy Frog were thinking of a new Piczle game, the Bokumono series naturally came to mind. Mr. Kei explained that he applied for a job at Victor Interactive Software in 2001 and wasn't hired (auu....), but he applied again after the company became Marvelous Interactive. Mr. Kei went on to work as a Character Graphic (CG) Designer for Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility and Harvest Moon: Animal Parade, so he is quite familiar with our favorite farming game series.

screenshot

Score Studios' goal was to create the nonograms using the characters and animal designs from the series while also making challenging puzzles. Ideally, they wanted to make a game that both fans of puzzle games and farming games would enjoy.

Marvelous' role in the game was supervising, supplying development materials, and giving feedback. As Mr. Kei was familiar with the series and intended to faithfully recreate the characters as puzzles, Marvelous did not have to place any pressure on them. Score Studios did not want to disappoint any Bokujou Monogatari fans. Nakano is pleased with the game, as it allowed those who play puzzle games to perhaps be introduced to the Bokumono series .

Mr. Kei noted that because Piczle Cross: SoS would be released globally, and not just in Japan, they could only include series entries that were part of the Story of Seasons franchise. Even so, he had to omit some characters as puzzles. The most difficult aspect of creating a puzzle was making the character look expressive using a small number of squares. Marvelous helped by laying the groundwork for the character's designs and facial expressions.

He also wanted to incorporate the standard farm tools in the game. Players can conveniently mark long sections as filled/marked on a puzzle, as though they were using a hoe in the field. Checking for mistakes on a puzzle will activate a sickle icon under the puzzle's stats.

Mr. Kei hopes that his puzzle game will be enjoyed by Bokumono fans and is honored that he had the chance to be involved in the series.

I think James Kei did a pretty good job with the Piczle Cross game. I'm about 65% through, and the larger puzzles are becoming challenging! It's an enjoyable game for $10. In the interview, Nakano gave no information about the upcoming Bokujou Monogatri games in development.



Steam Spring Sale

Another all-platform sale is happening, with many farming games discounted on Steam until March 21.



Until next time!


-Cher
(Whooooo hoooo springtime!)

Feedback: Add | View (4)
 Next page >>
RSS
Privacy Policy