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: Home Sweet Home (August 2024) and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (June 2023)
• Europe: Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home (August 2024) 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

An Overview of Slow-Life Game, Chill Town, and Festivals in Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar | Posted at 04:57 PM 16 May 2025

Happy Farm'n Friday! The beer traps are catching all sorts of slugs and rolly-polly bugs that have been ninja-ing around in the raised beds. The remaining beans are growing strong now that fewer critters are chewing through the vines, though the lettuce in the next bed over still hasn't grown at all. I had envisioned having an entire bed filled with leafy greens, but I should have been more realistic. I'm guessing that Big Doug's proximity to the garden box is why nothing grows. Thanks, Doug! Grumble...

Two new tomato plants arrived yesterday, which will go into the backyard garden boxes. The Dougs can't interfere with them there! On the other hand, the local birds and squirrels could cause problems for the tomatoes.

Chill Town Launch

PC game Chill Town is a lo-fi casual farming experience. Fishing, farming, bug catching, town building, and farm design are part of this chill-out game with a relaxing soundtrack.

Developed by the studio that previously released Chill Corner, players will start their new life on Chill Island, a small land mass where a group of explorers dream of building a town for everyone to relax.

Developing the new relaxation city is just one of the activities in Chill Town. There are also tasks to complete, which can be assigned by talking to villagers or checking out the town bulletin board. Another social feature is the letters written by other players of the game, which are accessible from the simulated phone app. While you can't send a letter to a specific player, you can write heartfelt messages that everyone can read. The message system also includes a translation toggle for reading player-submitted letters written in other languages. Messages like, "You can do it!" and "Hi everyone!" add to the charm of Chill Town.

There are festivals too, though I haven't seen any yet.

The game also has a collection component. The town mayor, a former biologist, dreams of cataloging all the animals, insects, and fish on Chill Island. With four seasons a year (20 days long) and other islands to explore, completionist-style players will be busy for a while. The cataloging also includes discovering all the decoration and furniture options, and there are a lot to unpack; I stopped counting at 800 halfway through the list of available decor to collect.

The plant animals, called Pals, live on the islands. Players can catch these Pals and then plant them to collect the resources the Pals produce. There are various ways to catch different types of Pals (chasing, digging them up, fishing, etc.), so Pal observation is important to successful acquisitions.

Plus, the game landscape is pretty serene, with wildflowers, iridescent waterways, and long days (about 1.5 minutes per in-game hour, about 3x slower than the in-game time in A Wonderful Life). With about 70 lo-fi tunes that can be selected from the Music section of the game's phone app, you can listen to your favorites by setting up a custom playlist or simply allowing the game to pick the music.

Lo-Hi Tech started the development of Chill Town back in 2022 and launched a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2023. The game is now out on Steam with a launch discount of 25% until May 27. The game also has full controller and Steamdeck support.

• Chill Town | Steam Store

SoS:GB Updates

This week in the Zephyr Town Walker, Marvelous revealed information about the festivals you'll experience when playing Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, the remake of the 2008 Nintendo DS game.

This week's video showcased four festivals:

1. A crop festival, which is new for Grand Bazaar; yes, the original game had no crop contest! The judge in this competition is our favorite crop fellow, Matsuba, from several renditions of Story of Seasons. This time, Matsuba has a voice!
2. The kid-friendly Pumpkin Festival, where you'll give treats to Kevin, Laurie (previously Lauren), and Sylvia (previously Cindy). Your own kid, too, if you have one at the time.
3. Spending time with Mayor Felix and company during the winter Starry Night dinner party. In the original game, the party at the mayor's house included June (previously Antoinette), Lloyd, and Sophie (previously Sherry). The party at Felix's house in SoS:GB also includes the new marriage candidate, Diana. I assume the party at the Cafe still involves Derek (previously Dirk), Freya, and Jules (previously Ivan), with the party at the hotel including Gabriel (previously Angelo), Maple (previously Daisy), and Samir (previously Amir). Not entirely sure where new marriage candidate Atara will be spending Starry Night, but I would guess it is the hotel.
4. Lastly, the end-of-year countdown to midnight in the town plaza, where everyone gathers to celebrate the year's achievements. This time, the kids are included in the party; in the original game, the kids didn't participate.

Marvelous also included a full list of birthdays and festival dates in the game. The Snowboard Contest, Spring Thanksgiving, and Harmony Day festivals are missing from the remake, with seasonal festivals occurring more often than in the original game.

Spring Festivals

• 11th and 12th - Flower Festival. Give as many flowers as possible to everyone in town, with the person who gave the most crowned as the festival winner. In the original Harvest Moon version, this festival lasted from the 8th until the 12th.
• 21st - My Happy Festival. This is a new event, presumably about happiness? lol
• 27th - Tea Party. Bring tea brewing ingredients to the town plaza and have the resulting beverage judged by the village taste testers.

Summer Festivals

• 3rd - Pet Contest. Bring your favorite pet to show off the strong bond the two of you have together. Not sure yet if this will be a mini-game like the original or just a friendship judgment like the Pet Promenade version.
• 11th - Animal Contest. Have your livestock or poultry judged. Again, whether the original festival mini-game is carried over in the remake is unknown.
• 16th - Summer Horse Race. Yeee haw! Run around the racetrack outside of town with your horse buddy. Fastest time wins. Wonder if Wada will make an appearance since, in the original game, he lived in the race track area during spring, summer, and autumn.
• 21st - Crop Festival. This is the new festival that Matsuba supervises. Fresh crops with high star rank are likely to take first place.

Autumn Festivals

• 4th and 5th - Cooking Festival. The first day's contest is judging on main-dish meals, while day 2 is all about desserts. This is similar to the original game's festival, with the difference of the date change (previously the 15th and 16th). The traveling gourmet, Pierre, will review your contest entries and reward prizes based on whether you win the main contest, the dessert contest, or both.
• 15th - Animal Contest, assuming it is just like the same festival during summer, but with a new animal category.
• 21st - Juice Festival. In the continued dumbing-down of the series, where there is no animal death, friendship decay, or other negative aspects, the former wine/alcohol tasting festival has been revamped into a dry event.
• 25th - Crop Festival. Matsuba returns for another plant evaluation event.
• 28th - Pumpkin Festival. Give sweet treats to the Zephyr Town kiddos.

Winter Festivals

• 4th - Pet Contest. Maybe there is a dog festival and a cat festival? Wonder if you can bring the same pet every time...
• 9th - Pokapoka Festival. This festival is new, so we'll learn more about this one later.
• 12th - Animal Contest. The third one this year!
• 17th - Winter Horse Race. Run with your horse around the track, try to win first place, etc.
• 22nd - Crop Contest. Third one in the year. Maybe there will be one on Spring 22 starting in year two?
• 25th - Starry Night. Moved from the 24th to the 25th; ask a marriage candidate the day before to invite yourself to a dinner party.
• 31st - Countdown. Celebrate the end of the year in the plaza.

In Japan, Marvelous is teaming up with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) in celebration of World Milk Day on June 1. MAFF is hosting a milk exhibition at the agency's headquarters in Tokyo from June 2 to June 6, where visitors will have a Bokujou Monogatari-themed photo opportunity.

Until next time!

- Cher
(Still no email from Nintendo for a Switch 2 preorder... lol)

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