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: Futago no Mura+ (December 2017)
• 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 overnight temperature unexpectedly hit sub-30s this week. Brrr! I started covering the little radish sprouts with a towel at night to protect them from frost. So far they all have survived. The mystery pest that was gnawing away at the plant leaves has stopped. Perhaps the cold temperature did away with the little bugger.

This second crop that was planted after the tree rats destroyed the first crop of Shawo Radishes is making progress. I'm hoping they mature before it becomes really cold outside.

Mad Dash Delayed

This week Natsume announced that the collaborative farming party game, Harvest Moon: Mad Dash will have its physical release delayed until November 5th in North America. The digital version of the game is available for download in the Nintendo Switch eShop and the Playstation Store for $29.99. Over in Europe, Rising Star Games has a digital version available now, with a physical release set for November 15.

This collaborative game can be played by up to four farmers as they work together (or make an attempt at working together) to get high scores and move onto the next round of the game. We had some friends over last Friday to try out the game in 4-player mode. They are fans of the party game Overcooked, so they both enjoyed this game as well. The beginner levels (before level 30) can be pretty easy, but as the environments change things became a little more challenging. There are about 100 levels in the game to work through as players locate the scattered Seeds of Time and restore the inhabited areas of the island. Level blocks will require players to collect a minimum number of stars before they dissolve away; the better the score in the mission level, the more stars received from clearing the mission (up to a maximum of 3 starts).

Another feature of Mad Dash is the Helper Sprite. For players who need a little assistance to hit the 3-star score, the Helper Sprite can add 30 seconds to the level, make it easier to fill the Power Meter, or prevent crops from wilting or other types of ailments. Even one of our board game friends started calling Mr.Fogu her "Helper Sprite" and directed him to bring her some water.

We'll definitely play more of Mad Dash the next time they visit!

New SoS:FoMT Animal Friendship

Running your own farm in Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town means that you can also raise animals. In the updated Switch game there's cows, sheep, and chickens, but new animals have been added too: three types of cows, an alpaca, and a rabbit.

• The four types of cows are the normal black and white Cow, a brown Coffee Cow, a pink Strawberry Cow, and a golden Fruit Cow. The three special cows cost 10,000 G a piece and produce flavored milk (coffee, strawberry, and fruit).
• There are two types of chickens: a normal white chicken and a new brown chicken. Both chicken types costs 1500 G each and produce the same eggs. Basically just pick the color you like, or mix and match!
• The Angora Rabbit and Alpaca both qualify as entries into the fall animal contest, now called the Fluffy Festival instead of the Sheep Festival. These critters produce wool just like the normal Sheep.

Typically the products collected from farm animals will increase in quality the more friendship you have with the animals. In the GBA game the size of the products received was determined by the number of friendship hearts the animal had. For example, a cow produced Small Milk if it had 3 hearts or less, Medium Milk if it had 4 to 7 hearts, and Large Milk if it had 8 or more hearts. In SoS:FoMT things are a little different...

Purchased animals now have a maximum limit of friendship hearts. When you buy an animal from Barley or Lillia, it will have a maximum of 5 heart containers. The number of heart containers will not increase no matter how many years you own the animal. This means the animal will produce small-sized products up until 3 hearts of friendship, then medium-sized product once its friendship hits 4 hearts, but cannot produce large-sized products. Large products require a minimum of 8 hearts of friendship and a starter animal has no more than 5 containers to fill with love.

To get an animal that has more than 5 hearts, animals have to be bred by placing an egg into the nesting box (chickens) or by using miracle potions (everything else). Each time a baby is born, it will have an additional maximum heart of friendship. So breeding will be required to obtain a 10-heart farm animal.

Chickens don't take very long to hit 10 hearts, since it only takes 3 days to hatch a chick. But when it comes to breeding the larger livestock, a pregnancy lasts 21 days; it can last 30 days if you happen to accidentally NOT feed the parent for a day. Then the child has to mature (10 to 15 days for a rabbit, even longer for the other livestock), have at least 3 hearts of friendship, and then will need to be bred to get the next heart container on its offspring.

Just like in the GBA game, your cows and sheep need to have at least 8 hearts of friendship to win their annual festivals. You'll need to breed to win those festivals if you want unlock Gold, Platinum, and X-quality animal products. Winning the Chicken Festival is basically a matter of spooking the competition at the right time (higher hearts helps, but not required), but you'll still need to have 8 hearts of friendship before the chicken will lay Gold, Platinum, or X Eggs.

Farm'n Game Sales!

Sony has a North America/South America digital game sale that includes several farming games. PS+ members have an even greater discount on the on-sale games. This sale will end on November 22nd:

• Farming Simulator 19: Normally $39.99, on sale for $27.99 (PS+) or $33.99 (no PS+)
• Farming Simulator 19 Premium: Normally $79.99, on sale for $55.99 (PS+) or $67.99 (no PS+)
• Harvest Moon - Light of Hope SE (base game): Normally $39.99, on sale for $19.99 (PS+) or $29.99 (no PS+)
• Harvest Moon - Light of Hope SE Bundle (base game + DLC): Normally $49.99, on sale for $24.99 (PS+) or $37.49 (no PS+)
• Harvest Moon - A Wonderful Life SE: Normally $14.99, on sale for $5.99 (PS+) or $10.49 (no PS+)
• Harvest Moon - Save the Homeland: Normally $14.99, on sale for $5.99 (PS+) or $10.49 (no PS+)
• Pure Farming - Digital Deluxe Edition: Normally $39.99, on sale for $11.99 (PS+) or $25.99 (no PS+)
• Rune Factory - Tides of Destiny (PS3): Normally $29.99, on sale for $11.99 (PS+) or $20.99 (no PS+)

Reel Fishing: Road Trip Adventure (PS4) is also on sale for $14.99/$22.49 as well as Reel Fishing: Master's Challenge (Vita) for $7.99/$13.99.

Also in North America, XSeed Games is celebrating their 15th Anniversary by giving discounts out to their digital farmer friends:

• Return to Popolocrois - A SoS Fairytale: Normally $19.99, on sale for $9.99
• Story of Seasons: Normally $19.99, on sale for $17.99
• Story of Seasons - Trio of Towns: Normally $29.99, on sale for $17.00

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