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: Grand Bazaar (August 2025)
- North America: Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home Special Edition (October 2025) and Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar (August 2025)
- Europe: Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home Special Edition (October 2025) and Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar (August 2025)
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
Pets in Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, and Several New Indie Farm'n Games | Posted at 04:54 PM 11 July 2025
Happy Farm'n Friday! The make-shift wildflower meadow started to bloom this week. Despite tossing marigold, calendula, and "meadow variety mix" seeds, the only seeds that sprouted were cornflowers. They are nice, but there has been very little insect interest. I did find a beetle face-first in a flower, but generally, the other native critters are elsewhere.
We did pass a very bumble-heavy lavender plant on our walk the other evening. Didn't see many honey bees around the lavender, though; instead, the honey bees have been visiting the pond for water. They like to hang out on the iris planter on the rock shelf in the middle of the pond to suck up the moisture from the planter's soil.
I still have not finished Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma. The game is slowly becoming... repeatable, I guess. Start out going through seasonal dungeons, then located shrines in more seasonal dungeons (with two repeating boss battles), and now I have to go through more seasonal dungeons to power up the deities I unlocked through the first set of dungeons. After 80 hours of village building and spring/summer/fall/winter dungeons, it's becoming stale. I completed the mushroom professor's fungus identification goal and became a great sweet connoisseur (only 4 cooking challenges?), but is there anything else?
I also find the post-midnight health penalty to be bothersome. It's not fun to be mid-battle and realize it's past my bedtime because my Rune Points and Hit Points are evaporating. It feels like the penalty is artificially lengthening the amount of time it takes me to reach the hard-mode dungeon's goal, as I keep having to return later because I can't clear it in one sitting. If I switch back to normal mode, the game will become super easy, as I've been increasing character levels and upgrading equipment as the difficulty ramps up in hard mode. However, the wandering monsters in the dungeons have been harder to fight than the bosses...
SoS: GB Updates
This week, Marvelous released a new video in Japan introducing players to Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar. This 5-minute video highlights a day in the life of the protagonist living in Zephyr Town.
Most of the video is content we've seen before: farming, animal care, the windmills, the bazaar booth, social aspects, and other activities. We do get to see Diana wearing glasses. Huzzah, it's nice to see more representation for those of us with poor eyesight!
In this week's Zephyr Town Walker, the developers showcase the many dogs and cats players can keep as farm pets.
In the original DS game, Enrique would sell dog and cat pets at his bazaar booth. Players could have up to 5 cats and 5 dogs (10 total) but could not remove any unwanted pets. Enrique would not buy them back, and the pets would not die because of neglect. Pets would herd animals out to the pasture on nice-weather days, with cats handling chickens and dogs responsible for the livestock. The greater the pet's training level, the more animals they can herd, with each pet herding a maximum of 6 farm animals.
In the remake, the maximum number is 4 cats and 4 dogs (8 total). The pets still have the same herding responsibilities as the original game, with herding capabilities based on their training level. Players also get a free pet from Ramon (Enrique's new name) of their choosing: either a small dog or a cat.
Training is done by playing a mini-game with the pet instead of simply playing fetch by tossing out a cat bell or a dog bone.
Unlike the original Grand Bazaar, pets in the Story of Seasons version can be expelled from the farm by donating them to the booth at the bazaar.
The developers' notes at the bottom of the article indicate that pets will also have personalities, which will influence how the pets interact with each other. Pets in Pioneers of Olive Town also had personality traits (Energetic, Gentle, Lonely, Loner, and Mischievous), so it's no surprise that feature carried over to Grand Bazaar.
Indie Farm'n Updates
Next week is going to be great for indie games with farming components!
Stray Fawn Studios' village building and word exploring game, The Wandering Village, is finally launching out of beta and onto Playstation 4/5, Steam, Switch, and XBox on July 17 for $29.99. Crowdfunded back in November 2020 with a Steam Early Access launch in 2022, this game sets players to build a village on the back of a giant creature as it traverses various environments in a post-apocalyptic, poisoned world. As the village leader, players manage the resources and farms of their monster-backed settlement to ensure their little villagers survive in the toxic environment. You'll also be investigating the source of the toxic plants that contaminated the surface of the world.
A physical edition of the game will be released by Serenity Forge in the future, containing a physical copy of the game, a set of pins, a digital soundtrack download code, paper postcards, a keychain, and a little Onbu succulent pot.
Latin ranching game Gaucho and the Grassland will be released on July 16 on Steam for $19.99. Developed by the studio Epopeia Games, this cozy game places new gauchos in a traditional rancher role, inspired by southern Brazil over 100 years ago. Guided by the ghost of their dad, players will rebuild a farm, catch fish, raise cattle, design their homestead, and explore various rural areas to meet mystical beings of Latin America lore and restore harmony, hope, and trust to the world.
The economy is based on bartering with other characters in the game. Bring the locals the specific resources they request and receive something useful in exchange. There are also lots of missions to complete, with puzzles to solve to make progress through the various environments.
A FREE demo is available to check out from the Steam Store.
Indie publisher RedDeer Games (Ashwood Valley, Sunseed Island, Garden Buddies, etc.) will release Cottonville for Steam and Switch on July 17 for about $11.00. In this game, players take over a sewing shop attached to an old farm. Grow flowers to craft into dyes and cotton to process into fabric, then make fashionable clothing and accessories from the farm's products. Sell the fashion goods at the fashion boutique, where complying with the shop guests' style requests will determine the profit price.
Cottonville initially was a Kickstarter game in April, which was then canceled by RedDeer Games after one day of crowdfunding. A second Kickstarter was launched a week later, only to be canceled by Kickstarter, and all pledges were refunded two days after the campaign ended in May. Now, the game is being released by RedDeer in July with no public funding. Perhaps they never needed the funding to begin with...
Anyhow, there is a FREE demo available on Steam if you want to check it out:
While pixel farming game Cattle Country has been out digitally since the end of May, physical copies of the game are now available for PlayStation 5 and Switch directly through disc/cartridge publisher Silver Lining Interactive and at select retail shops. I'm almost finished with this game as well; just one last achievement to collect!
Until next time!
- Cher
(The tomatoes are finally flowering!)
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