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. In other regions, you'll find Natsume, XSeed Games, Marvelous AQL of Europe, 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:

• Japan: Bokujou Monogatari: Return to Mineral Town (October 2019)
• North America: Harvest Moon: Light of Hope (May 2018 [Switch/Ps4]) and Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns (February 2017)
• Europe: Harvest Moon: Light of Hope (June 2018 [Switch/Ps4]) and Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns (October 2017)

The latest version of River King, in all regions of the world, is River King: Mystic Valley (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 one feline intern. 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

Happy Farm'n Friday! The sunshine has finally started to pop out of the clouds this week. There are a lot more flowers trying to bloom now! Soon it will be time to clean the raised garden bed and prepare it for this year's vegetables. Over the winter I picked up a nifty Seeding Square to help keep plants spaced properly.

It comes with a chart that outlines what kinds of seeds can be planted through each of the colored holes (e.g., carrots can be dropped through the red holes), so each plant is space-optimized. It also comes with a handy seed dropper that measures how deep of a hole you can make through the seedling jig. And when not in use, the seed dropper fits into the jig via a magnet.

It's a bit too early to start planting, but I'm intrigued to see how well this will work. I have a bad habit of planting seeds too close together. For example, I planted a lot of scallions seeds with the intent of thinning them after they sprouted, then never got around to pulling out the seedlings to make room for the remaining plants. Now there's a mass of intertwined scallions that I can't easily pull out of the ground when I need one. What a mess!

There still isn't a definite English release date for Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, but both XSeed Games and Marvelous EU are hinting that there could be a date announced in the near future. No hurry, of course! There's still lots of work to do on the Fogu guide for the game.

FarmCon 2020

The folks that develop the popular Farming Simulator video game series has announced that FarmCon 2020 will take place on July 18 and 19 in Lauingen, Germany. This annual event showcases everything associated with the game such as meeting up with other players and workshop pannels with in-game mod developers. This year's FarmCon will also showcase the grand finale of the current Farming Simulator League (FSL) eSports tournament.

GIANTS Software also announced this week the company will be opening an office in Chicago, Illinois, and they're hiring! If you are looking for a job relating to video game farming in the Windy City, check out the list of available positions on https://giants-software.com/jobs.php.

Other Farm'n Game Developments

The developers of Stranded Sails: Explorers of the Cursed Islands are still working on functionality improvements to their shipwreck-themed farming game. The next feature being developed for the game are houses for the stranded crewmates to live in. Players will be able to enter the crewmates' houses and even decorate the house interiors. The next update will also include protagonist clothing options and additional side activities to do in the game.

The Kickstarted farming game, Farm Folks, is back in the swing of development after a rough patch with developer Overgrown last fall. The three-person team has been busy building new features into their game. The recent updates include how the game proceeds while the protagonist is alseep for the night (it keeps going!), the addition of skin tone options for the protagonist, and the final designs for several animals like the chickens, sheep, and cute little piggies. You can see more pictures of the community-sponsored game on their Kickstarter page:

• https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bisonbit/farm-folks/posts

Currently the game is listed on Steam for wish-list additions, with early access planned for the future.

4 DAYS TO GO!

The enhanced version of Rune Factory 4 will be available on the 25th. The digital version is still locked until the eShop says it is a-okay to play the game (drat), but the Archival editions have begun to travel to those who pre-ordered the special edition. Some players have even discovered that physical copies are popping up in retail stores.

This will be my first adventure into RF4. I finished RF1 when it was originally released in Japan back in 2006, then muddled my way through RF2 for a few years until I finished it last year. After the RF4 Switch remake was announced, I jumped into RF3 and finished that last fall. Now it's time to jump into a new world with a dragon and a princess and lots of exciting adventures!

Until next time!

- Cher
(29 days to go until ANIMAL CROSSING! Woooo!)

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