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:

• Japan: Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (January 2023)
• North America: Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos (September 2023) and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (June 2023)
• Europe: Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos (October 2023) and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (June 2023)

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

Happy Farm'n Friday! Oh boy how is it already almost April!? It feels like this year is going by faster than years past. I guess that means Christmas time will be here soon enough! Though I don't need to start designing this year's Christmas Light Extravaganza until June or so.

Some more flowers popped up this week. Now it's the anemones' turn to show off their petals. They are typically different colors, but I guess this particular one prefers to bloom in red. Kind of like a little "Hey you, welcome to Fogu HQ!" to visitors on their way to the front door. There's a few more sprouting off to the side that are purple and white, and another that looks to be two colors, though it hasn't fully bloomed yet. Many of them were planted two years ago, and some were planted last fall, so it's been a surprise to see what colors are coming up.

Bokumono Goes Mobile (Again)

This week, Marvelous revealed that the company has entered into a licensing agreement with the video game publishing and development section of Tencent for the development and distribution of a Bokujou Monogatari game for smartphones. Tencent already has its hands in League of Legends, owns the popular social app WeChat, runs their own PC social and gaming platform WeGame in China, and manages the official mobile phone app for Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG). So it's kind of a win for both companies; Marvelous gets to branch into new overseas markets, and Tencent gets to utilize the popular Bokumono franchise. What the game will be like, or what regions it will be available for download in, is unannounced at the moment, though the Bokumono series has appeared on other mobile/PC platforms before.

• There's the Bokujou Monogatari for Mobile game that is currently available on multitude of social game platforms in Japan (and outside of Japan if you register an account). It isn't a separate app though; it's more like a browser interface with the online game network's website. The game has been around since 2010 on the GREE and Mobage networks, and has branched into other non-console platforms. Marvelous promotes that the mobile game has had over 3 million players.
• Then there's the Minna de Bokujou Monogatari game on the MooG gaming platform, which launched in 2010 after the release of the mobile version for GREE and Mobage. This was basically a Bokumono version of Farmville for web browsers, where growing crops and other farm chores were done in real time. The game was played by assigning Harvest Sprites to complete tasks for you, kind of like hiring teams in Harvest Moon DS. The higher your level, the more sprites you could assign to take care of your animals, smash stones, water crops, and so on. You could even visit other players' island farms, whether in-game friends or just completely random farmers. This game was shut down in 2012. (You can see it in action in this Youtube video)
• We also received an experimental version of the GREE/Mobage mobile version in North America in 2011, called Harvest Moon: Pocket Ranch on the PlayPhone game network. It was in test phase for a few months, but was eventually discontinued.

Good Life Character Update

Also this week, SWERY and his team at White Owls sent an updated out about their murder mystery game in the English countryside, The Good Life. White Owls revealed two more residents that you can meet in the little town of Rainy Woods: Bruno Evans, a fan of mushrooms who transforms into a collie-like dog; and Rita Barret, who transforms into a scarf-wearing calico cat.

Another feature revealed is the garden that the protagonist Naomi will have access to:

The garden plots will be available at Naomi's house, allowing players to grow different plants and perhaps even add objects to the garden.

Farm'n at PAX East

This weekend is PAX East in Boston, where game publisher and developers (both video and board games) show off their games to the east-coast folks. This gaming expo will include representations from our favorite farming genre including My Time at Portia (Ps4 edition), Farming Simulator, and Atomicrops. Sounds like a good time!

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