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

Happy Farm'n Friday! Tomatoes are ready to be planted in their raised bed, as are the zucchini. Potatoes are doing great, and the schwartzbeeren berries I experimented with last year have started to sprout from the dropped fruit. I'm really glad those were grown in a container, or there would be schwartzbeeren growing everywhere! I'm still holding back on starting the melons, but I put some shishito pepper seeds under the grow lights.

Starting last weekend, somehow we attracted a pair of mallard ducks to the backyard. Most of the time we have the lady duck, but every so often a drake will hang out with her. They like to paddle about in the small wildlife pond (primarily home to mayfly nymphs) or sit in the middle of the yard. Since she often flies in early in the morning (she doesn't stay the night), I get to squeeze in my potato watering early in the morning. What I didn't expect is that she has excellent eyesight and can spot us peeping at her from inside the house; that's when she'll drop her head to seem less visible. She seems primarily interested in eating water lily leaves and spending time in a dog-free, fenced yard.

Next week, the game + all DLC version of Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos Complete will be released physically for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 1 in North America. The game cartridge will work on a Switch 2, though there aren't any graphical enhancements exclusive to that console. Farmers can order the game directly from the Natsume Store or from Amazon.com. Numskull Games already released physical copies of the game in March in the EU region.

Farming Camp Demo

A playable demo is now available for SOEDESCO and Innerfire Studio's (developer of Orange Seasons) latest farming adventure, Farming Camp. In this game, players take on the role of teenager Alessandra, who has a goal of supporting her family by being awarded the title of Evertree Farmer and receiving the financial windfalls that come with that achievement. Her fellow campers also have the same goal and face the pressure of acquiring the title, some of whom have gone through this farm-training program multiple times without success. The four bizarre camp counselors are tough to impress! The campers are grouped into teams, and the team with the most points will receive the glory they so richly deserve.

The days in Farming Camp are divided into three sections: Morning, Afternoon, and Evening. Completing a daily training task (farming, animal care, grounds maintenance, or fishing) will move the day to the next section, though you can always take a nap in the camp cabin to move the day forward. Training tasks can contain mini-games to complete, such as squashing bugs around a crop to prevent its destruction or guiding a fishing boat down the river while avoiding floating obstacles. Experience and team points will be awarded based on how well you completed the task. There is also a weekly cooking competition that requires the use of materials collected during the week, which itself is a sequence-style mini-game.

Alessandra's two teammates can also be assigned training tasks to help earn points for the team: one can complete a morning task and then the other an afternoon task. Working together, the team can complete their weekly homework to earn more points, though it is an uphill battle to earn more points than the powerful Team Applesauce.

The other campers also have their own drama to deal with, but it is up to the player how involved they want to get in other people's messes. For example, one camper asks that you intentionally fail the week's homework assignment in exchange for some nice cauliflower seeds. Do you agree or pass? And if you agree, do you comply with the request or go full-on backstabber and complete the homework anyway to make his team look bad? That's up to you.

Since the camp program is only 27 days long and has branching stories, I'm estimating that each playthrough of the full game will be between 10 and 15 hours. The demo explores the first 7 days of the game, giving players a taste of some of the mini-games and gossip. There are a few rough spots, such as instances where the dialogue in English doesn't make sense, or when it isn't possible to talk to someone sitting in a library chair because the Sit prompt overrides the Chat prompt, but in general the game's demo runs pretty well. Farming Camp is planned for a Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S release later this year. The demo is currently Steam only:

• Farming Camp Demo | Steam Store

Sakuna Mobile Canned

This week, publisher Toho Co. and developer G2 Studios announced that their mobile game, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin: Hinuka's Spirit Journey, will terminate service on July 27. Based on the popular rice farming game, this Android/iOS game had players growing rice and exploring a mysterious archipelago with Sakuna, Kokorowa, new character Hinuka, and other returning characters. The game included rice farming and hybridization (real-time crop growth), a combat mechanic, and a new Sakuna-style story to follow.

Unfortunately, player feedback has been mixed, leaning more on the negative rather than positive. Despite ongoing adjustments since the service launched on February 5 of this year, exclusive to Japan, the group decided it was not possible to meet player expectations. So it was easier to cancel the whole thing.

The game will continue to have additional story content and in-game campaigns (most likely already planned) up until the July 27 shut-off date. The web store used to purchase in-game currency using real funds has been deactivated. In the game, the in-game currency has been limited to one bundle and will be deactivated entirely on May 28. The Steam version (App ID 3697400) has been canceled, with its Steam Store page planned for deactivation on May 28.

After July 27, a method to request a refund for unspent in-game currency purchased using real money will be announced. To qualify, players cannot uninstall the app from their device (as that makes it difficult to verify account information) and must submit a request for a refund.

Coral Island 1.3 Preview

Stairway Games revealed details about the upcoming 1.3 update for Coral Island, which includes two additional marriage candidates, events, and more.

First off, two of the existing characters in the game are receiving romance options: Pufferfish employee Raina and merfolk domain gatekeeper Agung. Both of these characters will have their new romance paths appear after many of the other datable characters become available. Beginning in 1.3, romance candidates can invite you to hang out instead of the player being the only one to initiate the date. Plus, if you enjoy playing the game with your real-life friends, 1.3 will bring the option to marry them as well.

A new jealousy system will be added that will bring some snarky dialogue if your special someone has been neglected for a while. This can be disabled in the game settings. Likewise, a new wedding anniversary event with a spouse can reward players with double mastery experience for that day only.

The upcoming Merfolk Festival will take place during the summer season. There will be festival-exclusive decor, statues of the game's characters to purchase, and even some wacky potions to try.

One of the quality improvements coming to Coral Island is an update to the save game system. There will be up to 10 characters to save, plus the ability to save manually at any time (yay!) and an auto-save function that triggers when entering a building, teleporting, or entering a dungeon.

Additional features coming in 1.3 include new varieties of cows, horses, and chickens; the ability to add fish to aquariums, flowers to vases, and bugs to insect homes; improvements to the festival info pop-up; an instant refund option at stores for times when you accidentally buy the wrong items from the shop inventory; and much more.

A beta roll-out for 1.3 will be available on Steam starting on May 4. Farmers can switch to the 1.3 public beta at that time to try out some of the new features, but the new Agung and Raina marriage paths won't be available until after 1.3 officially launches. Those on other platforms will need to wait for the complete 1.3 release.

• Coral Island | Steam Store

More Indie Updates

World meteor bombardment farming game Moonfrost will have a public demo available starting on May 7 (next Thursday). Previously an NFT-style game, this now single-player game offers farming, fishing, romance, crafting, decorating, and more, wrapped up in a beautifully stylized world-rebuilding game.

• Moonfrost | Steam Store

Yokai farming game Tales of the Seikyu will exit Steam Early Access on June 11. The full launch of the game will include the conclusion to the game's story, a new yokai ability to master, three additional marriage candidates along with the full marriage system, farming improvements, and a lot more. News regarding a home console launch will be revealed after the Steam/PC launch next month.

• Tales of Seikyu | Steam Store

Cozy adventure and social game Littlelands will have a playable Steam demo available on May 4. In this casual-paced game, players can explore the regions of Littlelands, helping the residents, exploring puzzle dungeons, and hunting for treasure. Plus the whole farming thing! Littlelands has been in development for a few years, so it is nice to finally see a public demo. The game is planned for a PC (Steam, Epic, GOG) and home console launch via classic game publisher Apogee.

• Littlelands | Steam Store

Until next time

-Cher
(It's going to be 90° tomorrow?! Egads…)

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