https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=blogs&p=updates https://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss PHP-Update https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1747439864 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:
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! 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.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.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? lol27th - 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) https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1747439864 Fri, 16 May 2025 23:57:44 +0000 https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1746830426 Happy Farm'n Friday! The extra burgundy beans I started may have found a home after all. It turns out the indoor seedlings the sister-in-law started all lost their leaves after she put them outside, and now she needs more burgundy beans to grow. Huzzah! Well, not "huzzah" about her crop loss, but excited that I won't be bombarded with beans after all.

SoS: GB Updates
In this week's Zephyr Town Walker article from the official Bokumono website, Mayor Felix walks us through setting up the bazaar booth. If you haven't played GB before, the items in your inventory can be placed on a counter to sell to passersby during the Saturday event. The bazaar in this remake is split into shifts - morning (10am to 2pm) and afternoon sessions (3pm to 7pm) - where players can sell, shop at other booths, and then sell some more. In the original, you could stop and start at any time during the bazaar as long as it was before closing time at 7:00 pm.

The prioritized items to sell at the bazaar first should be those with a Freshness rating. The fresher the item, the more it can sell for. Keeping items in your farmhouse storage keeps Freshness longer than hoarding the goods in your rucksack, so you'll want to get into a routine of putting items reserved for the bazaar day in your strange. As the item becomes less fresh, you'll earn less money when sold at the bazaar; customers don't like rotten goods, of course. Goods that don't sell out during the bazaar sessions will return to your inventory. You can sell them the next week (putting them in storage for conservation) or find another use for the leftovers.
In the original game, Miguel (previously Raul) could act as a bazaar off-day merchant, buying goods from you for 50% of what you would have earned when selling at the bazaar. I'm unsure whether Miguel has the same option in SoS:GB yet.
Not every item has a Freshness rank, such as ores, sheep wool, insects, and so on. With a limited bazaar shelf space at the beginning of the game, keep the freshness-free goods back until after the perishables have all been sold. As the bazaar booth upgrades, there will be more space to place everything out at the same time.
Mayor Felix also notes that customers sometimes may be interested in buying something not currently displayed at the bazaar booth. Players can swap goods between their rucksack and the booth's counter to entice cautious customers to hand over their G.

Another component is Cheer Time, which can trigger after selling many goods and making happy customers. This limited-time effect offered by the Nature Sprites will act as an auto-sale of sorts, where customers will buy en-mass the stocked items you have on the counter and in your inventory if you happen to run out of counter inventory. Each sprite has unique powers to help you take advantage of Cheer Time:
Finley: increases freshnessHoney: extends the Cheer TimePenny: earn more moneyIvy: increases quantity soldWebby: sell goods faster
Not every sprite will activate their superpowers at every sale during Cheer Time. What the factor is for when and how often a sprite triggers is unknown for now.

A silent reveal in this week's article is the new benefit of cooked meals. In the original DS game, meals put together in the kitchen were used to recover stamina, sold at the bazaar, or given as gifts. In the remake, besides the standard Freshness rating and stamina recovery, meals may have a Power ability.
In the case of this tasty Tomato Salad, eating this food will reduce the amount of stamina/guts expended by a little bit. As this ability is described as being "Lv 1", there are bound to be stronger food abilities that conserve stamina better than the Tomato Salad. It will be interesting to see how other meals make the gameplay easier.

Indie Updates
Yokai-themed farming game Tales of Seikyu will launch on Steam early access on May 21. The game is still in development, so the early access launch is limited to chapter 1 of the story, three creature forms (boar, slime, and tengu), and romance options for six of the 14 planned marriage candidates.
Tales of Seikyu | Steam Store

Sandbox town building and farm management game Pixelshire is now out on Steam, with Nintendo Switch and PlayStation console versions planned for release later this year. While the game has some interesting potential, Kappa Bits and publisher Merge Games admit they have more work ahead with bug corrections and adjustments, and the game may have been launched prematurely. So keep it on the radar for now.
Pixelshire | Steam Store

Post-apocalyptic farming game Doloc Town is now available on Steam early access. Go through a side-scrolling adventure while also caring for a farm, facing perils such as acid rain and heat waves, as you rebuild a cozy homestead. A free demo is also available.
Doloc Town | Steam Store

Summer vacation farming game Everdream Valley will soon be available in a virtual reality edition. Everdream Valley VR launches in early access on Meta Quest 2, 3, and 3S on May 15. Play through the eyes of the game's young protagonist as they care for crops and animals, go fishing, cook meals, and spend the summer exploring the areas around their grandparents' farm.
Everdream Valley VR | Quest VR Games


Until next time!

- Cher(Nintendo, why you still no send me SW2 preorder link...) https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1746830426 Fri, 09 May 2025 22:40:26 +0000 https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1746233669 Happy Farm'n Friday! We have a birdhouse on the back of the house that is typically unused. Last year, a bird had started building a nest of moss and small twigs, but it was eventually abandoned.
Since I knew it was not in use, I figured I might as well empty out the nest in case another bird wanted to give it a try. Well, yea no that's not happening now! As I lifted the latch, the whole structure started to buzz. A colony of native black-tailed bumble bees had moved into the house, and they were not too keen on their front door being disturbed! Gratefully, these guys are not aggressive bees and were simply letting me know I was being a rude pest.
As I've lamented about the lack of pollinators in the yard in the past, I'm more than pleased to share some space with these fellows for the summer. There is a downside, though; we've another house construction project coming up, and there is concern that it might upset the bumbles, as it is their nature to stick around until autumn. I'll need to counsel with some bee experts on this one.
Another surprise this week was those bean seeds I planted about two weeks ago. The green beans had started to sprout, but the burgundy beans looked like they might be duds. In response, I started a batch of seeds indoors under the grow light, which is how the sister-in-law started her burgundy beans earlier this spring.
Guess what I see outside today? Yea, those dang burgundy beans have sprouted. Now, I have outdoor beans and indoor beans!

Cattle Country Dated

Yeee haw! Playtonic announced that Castle Pixel's country-western-themed farming and life-sim game Cattle Country will be released on May 27, 2025. Supported platforms are Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Steam, and XBox.
Start a new homestead in the rugged outdoors, where you'll grow crops and raise cows. Players can also catch fish, forage for edibles, and even hunt squirrels and rabbits to collect food (if you want to hunt). There's also brewing, pickling, and other means to process goods into higher quality products to sell.
Besides the normal farming, the nearby town has many residents who will need assistance from the new farmer. The town bulletin board will have help requests posted and a calendar that tracks resident birthdays and festival dates. The game's Journal lists each resident and their likes/dislikes, so there's no need to guess what gift they appreciate. There's also a romance option, though having children is planned for a later addition to the game. Playtonic notes that most adults are valid marriage candidates (about 18), minus the two already married to other characters. The residents have some interesting backstories; why is banker Carl so shady with money...
There is a bit of danger in the west, as bandits have been known to pop up. Scare off the varments with a good 'ol shootout. If that isn't your thing, the combat can be disabled in the game's settings. Besides the bandits, there are many mini-games, such as playing cards, letter shuffling, and a shooting gallery. Head into the mine for some explosive treasure hunting. Plenty of social festivals, too!

A free demo is available on Nintendo Switch, Steam, and XBox, with a PlayStation demo to be released soon. The demo has a sound volume hiccup (almost silent on Switch; gotta crank the sound up on Steam Deck), but the issue is being investigated. Another oddity is that while this is a single-player game, there is a word filter on the input fields during character creation. Alas, the town cannot be named "Dingleberry."
Cattle Country | PlayStation Store
Cattle Country | Steam StoreCattle Country | XBox Marketplace
For some reason, Nintendo doesn't have an online entry for the game, but it is available when browsing the eShop using the console.
Castle Pixel is also the developer that brought us Blossom Tales I and II, the dungeon-crawling action RPG pixel game for Switch and Steam.

HM: Valley/Skytree Dated
This week, Natsume revealed the release date for their two-in-one cart containing Harvest Moon: Lost Valley and Harvest Moon: Skytree Village. These two games were released for Nintendo 3DS about a decade ago and were the first post-divorce full-size games from Natsume. Now being released together for the Nintendo Switch, this special bundle will be released in North America (via Natsume) on July 3, 2025, and in Europe (via Numskull Games) on July 4, 2025.
While North Americans can preorder the game for $40 and receive an acrylic animal piece, Europeans have the option of either just the game (£30/€40) with no preorder bonus or a special collector's edition with the game, stickers, poster, and cd soundtrack (£42/€60).

New Kickstarter - Starsand Island
A new tropical island farming game is asking for public financial support through Kickstarter. Starsand Island is an anime-inspired game from developer Seed Lab with a Quarter 4 2025 full-version release date.

The game's story begins with the protagonist returning to their childhood island to settle into a quiet life of farming and ranching. Growing the best crops requires paying attention to the soil moisture levels and fertilizer ratios. Well-cared animals will produce high-quality goods, potentially unlocking animals that may help clean the farm of weeds. Keep an eye out for giant crops, too!
Besides the standard farming stuff, players can search for rare fish to catch, which can be donated to the town museum or cooked into meals. Of course, one had to look fabulous while casting their line, so there are plenty of seasonal clothing and accessories, such as hats, scarves, and boots.
A treasure-hunting component lets players explore the ruins found around the island, but there are also dangerous creatures that don't mind stopping an adventurer's travels.
There is a bit of romance, whether going out on dates or taking it to the next step by inviting that special someone to move into your house.
If you would like to learn more, check out their Kickstarter campaign or wishlist today on Steam:
Starsand Island | KickstarterStarsand Island | Steam Store

SoS:GB Updates
This week's Zephyr Town Walker on the official Bokumono website has some information about Wilbur's bazaar stall, where players can order farm upgrades. While the tool upgrades are processed at the manufacturing windmill, farm field expansions and storage upgrades are purchased from Wilbur.
The latest video reveals that the remodeler has options to:
build a second field (20,000 G now, 30,000 G in the DS game),increase the size of the animal pasture (50,000 G to make room for a second animal barn, not in the original DS game),increase the player's bag inventory size to 24 slots (5000 G, not in the original DS game from Wilbur), andincrease the players' home warehouse space to 48 slots (5000 G, and much more expensive in the DS game).
A stealth reveal in their video was the existence of field sprinklers into Grand Bazaar, which were not in the original game. If those are in place, I see less of a reason to upgrade the watering can efficiency!


Until next time!

- Cher(What am I to do with all these beans...) https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1746233669 Sat, 03 May 2025 00:54:29 +0000 https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1745629299 Happy Farm'n Friday! The mound of dianthus grass planted a year ago started blooming last week, and they're really odd star-like flowers. Those overseas in Europe are probably more familiar with Fringed Pink Dainthus, but it's rather unique in this area. I shouldn't have packed four plants in Turtleque's shell cavity; it's a little tight! As scraggly as the plants look, they do smell nice.
The city tree crew blew through the neighborhood this week, looking for low-hanging branches on the street trees. Ours weren't too bad (I had paid a crew years ago to trim the trees), or so I thought. The city crew mutilated a LOT of foliage, taking out every branch below 20 feet. And dropping the branches on my iris bed. Jerks. Some of the irises had their greens snapped off, so that's it for the damaged plants this year. Maybe they'll bloom next year.
The crew wasn't consistent around the neighborhood, either. They only "trimmed" the trees at houses that didn't have cars parked outside. So now we have a mix-match of beanpole-shaped trees that look like they came from Dr. Seuss's book about the Lorax, with normal-looking trees farther down the street. But because of our tree laws (the street trees are owned by the city), I can do nothing other than grumble about how weird it all looks.
On the bright side, the front yard garden beds receive more sunlight during the day. Just trying to keep it positive...
A new story trailer released for Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma this week, but it gives away a lot of the story. Super spoil-y. I thought maybe it might contain just a bit of new stuff, but Marvelous gave out plot twists and story components I would have liked to have discovered myself when playing the game. So, I won't share that this week; you can find it on YouTube if you're interested.

Cozy Bundle CE for EU
The re-release of the Nintendo 3DS games for Switch, Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley (2014) and Harvest Moon: Skytree Village (2016), will be packaged as a limited collector's edition in Europe via Numskull Games.

The EU CE includes a copy of the Switch game, a CD soundtrack, a two-sided A4-size poster, two sticker boards, and two sticker sheets, one of which has Doc; such a treat automatically makes the EU limited edition version of the game better than the NA offering, where we get an acrylic animal standee thing.
Numskull's collector's edition comes with a "Best of Harvest Moon Soundtrack" without specifying whether it just includes music from Lost Valley and Skytree Village or if it includes tunes from a variety of HM games. I know that SV had a CD soundtrack back in the day. Maybe it's a recreation of that or something entirely new. No idea!
For those in the EU, the collector's edition is available for preorder on Amazon UK (£41.66) and Amazon DE/Amazon FR (€59.99). You can preorder from the Numskull Games' website:
Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley and Skytree Village | Numbskull Games

SoS:GB Updates
In this week's Zephyr Town Walker from the official JP website, the publisher introduces animal care.

Mayor Felix will stop by to give a chicken to the new farmer, along with some Chicken Feed. Players can put the food into the troughs in the barn or hand-feed the food to their barn animals. Animals that have been fed can produce goods the next day. I'm assuming the animals won't become sick when not fed; it will be like SoS:FoMT, which means the animals don't produce anything to sell when they're not fed (and never get sick). In Grand Bazaar, the animals can also be sent outside to free-graze on the grass, so you don't have to feed them fodder or chicken feed indoors. As long as they get fed somehow, there will be products to collect and sell at the bazaar.
The bell used during the bazaar to entice visitors to the player's booth also works on farm animals! Ringing the handbell will help to raise friendship as well as entice the animals to walk towards the protagonist. Interacting also raises friendships. Felix also gives a brush for keeping animals clean, the milker for collecting milk from cows, and sheers for collecting wool from sheep and alpacas. The higher the friendship, the better the products the animal will produce.
Marvelous JP also launched a retweet/follow campaign on Twitter for players in the Japan region to win a set of animal air fresheners.

Digital Preorders

Breezy farmers can now preorder the digital version of Grand Bazaar on the Nintendo eShop. Marv also released a new trailer to promote digital preorders, showcasing the mighty voice of non-marriage candidate Mayor Felix.
There are three digital preorder options available:
The Digital Standard Edition that comes with a copy of the Nintendo Switch game and a preorder Cow Set DLC (cow costume + cow-print wind glider) for $49.99 / £44.99 / €49.99
The Digital Deluxe Edition includes the game, the Cow Set DLC, and the Trunk of Transformation DLC (four more animal costumes, four hairstyles, and the ninja costume and wind glider with ninja-themed bazaar booth decorations) for $59.98 / £59.98 / €59.98
Finally, the Digital Super Deluxe Edition is the game, the Cow Set DLC, the Trunk of Transformation DLC, a digital art book, and a digital soundtrack for $69.98 / £69.99 / €69.99

The Trunk of Transformation can be purchased separately for $9.99 / £7.99 / €9.99. The digital art book, soundtrack, and Trunk DLC offered with the Super Deluxe edition will also be available as a Super Digitial Deluxe DLC Set for $19.99.
An option for preordering the digital Nintendo Switch 2 edition of Grand Bazaar is also available directly from the Nintendo website (instead of via the eShop) for $59.99 / £49.99 / €59.99. The Sw2 digital preorder also includes the Cow Set DLC, with the option to buy the Trunk DLC (deluxe) or artbook/soundtrack/Trunk DLC (super deluxe) after the game is released on August 27.
Note that the physical premium editions of Grand Bazaar come with a physical artbook and physical soundtrack but do not include the Cow Set DLC or the Trunk of Transformation DLC. Marvelous USA has temporarily paused preorders for the physical premium edition due to ongoing international tariff volatility. This same chaos has impacted the premium physical edition of Guardians of Azuma, which contained several physical bonus items manufactured overseas. Marvelous USA posted a message to fans this afternoon explaining that the Earth Dancer Edition might not be ready by the game's June 5th release date. The game-only physical copies are not impacted and are currently on target for the June 5 release.
Marvelous has also clarified that farmers who buy the physical copy of the Switch 2 game will receive the full version of the Switch 2 game and not a download code. This holds true for Guardians of Azuma as well.
The entry for the art book in the Nintendo eShop does note that the EN voice actor for Sophie is Deva Marie Gregory, who acted as Arche in Farmagia and Sharon in Unicorn Overlord.

Play SoS:GB at PAX East
For visitors heading to PAX East in Boston, Massachusetts, from May 8 to May 11, Marvelous USA will have Grand Bazaar and Guardians of Azuma available to play at their booth. XSeed Games has vampire-themed indie farm'n game Moonlight Peaks, which has a free demo on Steam if you wanted to check it out. You can't go wrong with a monster as the shipping container, ya know!

New Farm'n
Another indie farming game from RedDeer Games was launched today for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation (XBox coming soon). Sunseed Island is a cartoon-themed world repair game where players farm, collect materials, craft, and rebuild a town to restore the magical Sunseed Tree.

Besides the basic farming stuff, a town hall exhibition can be completed by donating fossils, fish, insects, cooked meals, and plushies. Meet other magical animal characters and explore different biomes to discover treasures and wildlife, all while rebuilding the village that encircles the Sunseed Tree and bringing the lands back together.
Sunseed Island is priced at $2.99 during the first week of release (until May 1) on the Nintendo eShop, after which it will be $10. The game is priced at $10.99 on PlayStation.
Sunseed Island | Nintendo SwitchSunseed Island | PlayStation Store
(Note that while the Nintendo website says the discount ends May 15, the console eShop says it ends May 1.)

Pacha 1.3 Released
The free update to prehistoric farming game Roots of Pacha is now available for all platforms (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, Steam, and XBox). The Sun and Moon update by developer Soda Den adds two new villages, new marriage candidates, crops, a pole fishing mechanic, and more, and happens to be released on the game's second-anniversary launch on Steam, April 22.

The content appears as players reach the mid- and end-game portions of the game's main storyline. Clearing the forest cave puzzle will unlock access to the Mograni Tribe's mountainous region, and after all the base-game caves have been cleared, players can visit the tropical Yakuan Tribe's area. There are new villagers (19!), two additional marriage candidates, animals, seeds, trees, and ideas to discover (such as soap and jamp making). Even new festivals, mini-games, bug-catching, and crop mutations!
Roots of Pacha is discounted 50% on most platforms in celebration of the 1.3 release, with the discount expiring on April 29 (Steam and XBox) or May 5 (Switch). It doesn't appear to be on sale on PlayStation (gosh Sony...)
Roots of Pacha | Microsoft StoreRoots of Pacha | Nintendo StoreRoots of Pacha | PlayStation StoreRoots of Pacha | Steam Store


Until next time!

- Cher(Go beans, go! Let me see your stalks! Oh la la!) https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1745629299 Sat, 26 Apr 2025 01:01:39 +0000 https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1745018586 Happy Farm'n Friday! I spent some time last weekend planting the little seedling potatoes hoarded from last fall's harvest, though I may have waited too late to plant. When opening the box in which I had stored the spuds, I found it full of escaping potato sprouts! Oops. I planted them in the backyard garden box this year but haven't seen anything sprouting yet. I have seen potato sprouts in other places that were left over from last year - apparently, I missed harvesting a few - so I'll get some potatoes, I guess.

SoS:GB Updates
In this week's Zephyr Town Walker article on the official Bokumono website, Marvelous notes that there are over 100 crops to grow in Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar. I assume they're including flower crops in the updated game, which were not a crop option in the original Nintendo DS version, and the giant and golden crops that carried over from Pioneers of Olive Town. We've already seen golden strawberry in some of the videos released by Marvelous. PoOT had 84 crops to produce, so we're getting 16 more goodies to grow in Grand Bazaar.
This week's article also highlights the effect of tool usage on GUTS (i.e., the protagonist's energy level). In Japan, Marvelous is keeping the energy gauge labeled GUTS, while Marvelous USA has renamed it STAMINA.

This is actually a carry-over from the original game. For example, if the watering can was utilized when the protagonist's feet were planted on the ground, there would be -1 stamina expended per usage. On the other hand, you could jump and use the watering can at the same time, increasing the tool's range of watering influence from 1 square of crop field to 3 square, but there would be -6 stamina expended per jump + watering can usage. So, while it is faster to jump + water, there is a stamina penalty of -3 for taking advantage of that trick.
In the 2008 game, using the hoe and watering can combined with the jump ability were the only skills with an extra stamina penalty. Players could cut weeds one at a time or with a jump + cut and lose the same amount of stamina. In the 2025 remake, that generally seems to be the case as well for cutting weeds with the sickle, but there is now a jump + tool usage stamina hit when using the hatchet tool (a combination of an "axe" and "hammer" from the OG game) to clear branches and stones in a wide area.
In this version, Mayor Felix sells jump improvements at his bazaar booth to make farm work more efficient.
In the original game, the higher the star rank of the watering can and hoe, the wider the influence of the tool. From what I can tell, the remake appears to use normal remodeling metals. A copper hatchet and a silver hatchet were shown during the Nintendo Direct, including "+" level of tools indicated on the protagonist's tool inventory bar. Tools can be remodeled using a windmill.

Indie Updates
Indie farm'n development studio SquareHusky released a new content update this week for his afterlife farming game, Everafter Falls. The new content is available now on the game's PC version, with the console version expected to be released by the end of April.
Everafter has a collection component whereby players donate fish, bugs, shells, flowers, processed goods, etc., to complete Tobias' passion-project museum. Finding some of these goodies was mainly based on luck, but with this new update, Tobias has a special terrarium blueprint to share that will make it easier to find rare mushrooms. The bovine fisherman Calvin has a pendant he's willing to share that will help catch rare fish. Cedric the robot can help find undiscovered insects, and there are also new cooking recipe sets to complete.
Some other village animals also have new quests, such as helping Cid with a new furniture catalog for decorating your house or working with Freya to build a plant catalog. Gameplay improvements include the ability to move planted trees via the terminal at Aamy's house, more pixie card consumptions for expanding pixie friendships, another map teleportation spot, and more.
The game retails for about $20 on Switch, Steam, GoG, Epic Game Store, PlayStation, and XBox. Everafter Falls is currently 25% off on Steam until next Thursday (24th).
Everafter Falls | Steam Store

Blobby-farming game Ova Magica has been updated to version 0.9, with the full-release 1.0 edition expected later this year. This latest content release for the early access game includes a new prehistoric blob land, the ability to skip to the next season (so you don't have to wait a full in-game year to collect goodies that were missed during events), more friendship events, motion sickness settings, fast travel options, and a whole lot more!
Ova Magica | Steam Store

Autonomica Kickstarter Launched
On Tuesday, Crytivo launched the crowdfunding campaign for their farming automation and ghost hunting game, Autonomica. The game reached its funding goal within days and is now going through stretch goals.
In this 1980s-vibe steampunk farming game, players crash-land on a desolate place where time seems to be fractured. Rebuild a farming empire, develop relationships with the local residents, and explore parallel timelines while also searching for a father lost to time.
Autonomica was originally called Farm Folks, a crowdfunded game from 2018 that Crytivo took over and has tinkered with ever since, eventually scraping much of the original game to build a whole new farming game. Crytivo intends to support the legacy backers of Farm Folks, giving equivalent rewards from the Autonomica crowdfunding campaign without requiring additional funding support. The chart of matching goodies can be found on the Crytivo announcement on Discord.
So far, Autonomica has received over $250,000 in support just in its first few days. You can learn more about the game on its Kickstarter campaign page.
Autonomica - Open-World Survival with Farming and Automation | Kickstarter


Until next time!

- Cher(It's plant'n time!) https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1745018586 Fri, 18 Apr 2025 23:23:06 +0000 https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1744415675 Happy Farm'n Friday! I was browsing the plants growing in the parking strip and saw this wild violet hanging out among the iris. This little guy was the only one around, and I knew it wasn't my handiwork! I'm not sure yet if it is friend or foe; the general consensus on the internet is that the plant is a weed, but to someone who enjoys dandelions, my opinion seems to be the opposite.
I'm about to wrap up with the latest project I've worked on for several weekends - bagging and tagging all the loose Ninja Turtle action figures I collected during the late 1980s and 1990s. I counted a little more than 280 action figures, now labeled by name and year of release and packaged into poly bags. Found some rare treasures during this endeavor, too!
I still have a pile of loose accessories to match with a figure. Thirty years ago, there wasn't an easy way to find where a random plastic bit came from, so weapons and whatnot were tossed into a bag for safekeeping. Because all that stuff is now documented online, it is easy to snap a picture and learn to which figure set it belongs. Even the really vague accessories without labels, dates, etc., pop up using Google Lens. It has been an adventure in "Is it Turtle?" with some of these remaining figure accessories. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it is a piece of a Power Rangers or GI Joe figure set. Why do I have a leg piece from the Red Ranger's Phoenix Thunderzord when my collection is all Ninja Turtle? /shrug. I'm also finding random parts to TMNT sets I don't possess. lol.

Cottonville - New Farm'n Kickstarter
Fashion and farming come together in a new game from RedDeer Games called Cottonville. Move from the busy city to a seaside village to grow textile crops and forage for dye ingredients that will become materials for hip-and-stylish designs.

Players can customize their character with various options, such as hair style and color, skin tones, eye styles and colors, and more. Even your eyebrows! Then, get your threads dirty by growing cotton, linen, and bamboo to convert them into cloth for creating fashionable outfits at the sewing machine. Flowers can also be used to change the color of clothes. Wear the outfits yourself, including accessories like hats, or chat with the other fashion-forward folks of Cottonville to help design an outfit just for them.
It doesn't look like there are any animal care or other types of crops, so it's not much of a farming game, but there's a lot of farmers who enjoy cozy dress-up games. There are also in-game achievements to unlock for completionist-style farmers. RDG hopes to launch the game on Steam/PC later this year, with a Switch version planned in the future. The crowdfunding campaign ends on May 10, and you can wishlist the game now on Steam:
Cottonville - A Cute Dress-up Farming Game | KickstarterCottonville | Steam Store

SoS:GB Updates
This week, Marvelous released the first blog article showcasing their upcoming Nintendo DS remake, Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar. The Youkaze Town Walker will be publishing information about the game as we make our way towards its August release date.
Much of the info repeats what is being shared on the publisher's official Twitter/X profile. One bit of new information was an introduction to the five Nature Sprites:
Ivy (Jp: Kakaporo) - This nature-loving sprite is the de facto leader of the group.Finley (JP: Kikiporo) - The cheerful, fish-loving sprite.Honey (JP: Kukuporo) - The energetic and curious sprite of honey production.Webby (JP: Kekeporo) - The well-read and mushroom-friendly sprite.Penny (JP: Kokoporo) - The insect fanatic who loves to play.

Left to right: Honey, Finely, Penny, Webby, and Ivy.
I'm 80% sure about Webby's and Penny's EN names. Honey, Finely, and Ivy are definitely the correct names.
In a https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1744415675 Fri, 11 Apr 2025 23:54:35 +0000 https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1743816841 Happy Farm'n Friday! Daffodils may be fading, but now it's time for the tulips to wake up! Many of them greet folks walking down the sidewalk, including the group that was replanted from the neighbor down the street. Turns out his tulips were mainly red or yellow with red accents. The only flowers that have bloomed so far from saving all those bulbs he dug up have been the tulips. There is a lot of other foliage that appeared, but no blooms. Maybe they're summer alliums or daffodils that didn't have enough energy to bloom? The bulbs were simply in a large pile in his wheelbarrow and with no identification, so they could be anything.
Last weekend, I planted the horseradish rhizome that Mr.Fogu's coworker shared last year. It was stored in a bag in some wood shavings, though it still felt like it may have had a moisture problem over winter. It went into a container to ensure it doesn't spread all over, as horseradish is known to become rather invasive when left in the ground unchecked.
I also planted some of the schwartzenbeeren seeds obtained from the seed exchange with the sister-in-law a few weeks back. Wasn't expecting much, but they did sprout! Can't say the same for my zucchini though. Neither have made any indication of germinating. I might have some dud squash...

Indie Game Updates
Colonial farming game Echoes of the Plum Grove released a small update on Monday. New features include seasonal thunderstorms, a tree tapper for collecting sap during winter, and the ability to transfer items between storage chests. These features will also be included in the Switch version of the game once it passes through Nintendo's approval process.
Echoes of the Plum Grove | Steam Store

Artisan Story launched on Steam Early Access last weekend. This farming and monster ranching game follows the story of twin artisans starting their crafter workshop. Collect craft materials from animals and crops, explore dungeons for goodies, and use resources to build weapons, clothes, decor, and more. There are also villager relationships, romance, and festivals to experience. This game was originally crowdfunded last October, with a full release planned by the end of 2025.
Artisan Story | Steam Store

Azuma Delay
Marvelous has moved the release date for Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma to June 5 from the originally scheduled date of May 30. The game's director, Shiro Maekawa, revealed yesterday that they have planned a release on the Switch 2 since the beginning of the game's development. Because they want everyone to play Azuma at the same time on all platforms, they have pushed the planned release date to coincide with the release of the Switch 2 console on June 5.
The Switch 2 Edition of the game will have a higher frame rate, greater graphics resolution, and support JoyCon 2 mouse controls when building and designing the game's villages. It also comes at a price upgrade of 1000円 more than the Switch 1 edition.
Owners of the Switch 1 version of Azuma played on a Switch 2 can purchase a separate upgrade pack from the eShop, with a price to be announced later.
The physical version Azuma SW2 game package from Marv EU on Amazon.uk discloses that the Switch 2 game is the Switch 1 edition with the upgrade pack included. The Switch 2 digital version can also be upgraded to the digital Deluxe version (swimsuits + Pilika + Cuilang + festival outfits + dark Woolby) for 1650円 more or the digital Premium version (deluxe + digital artbook + digital soundtrack) for 3850円 more through the eShop.
Marvelous USA and Marvelous EU ask that future Earth Dancers wait a bit longer for the final prices in regions outside of Japan.
Marvelous USA is now offering the physical bonus items in the Earth Dancer limited edition (artbook, fan, Woolby head plush, and CD soundtrack) as a separate $49.99 purchase for those who will get the digital version (e.g., on Steam) and don't need a physical copy of the Switch 1 edition. I'm still holding out for a Woolby-only option (fingers crossed). You can pick up the LE physical goods from the Azuma preorder page on the Marvelous USA website.

Marv EU SW Sale
Marvelous EU has a nice group of deals currently for Story of Seasons and Rune Factory games in the publisher's region. These discounts are not available in NA (Marvelous USA) and will expire on April 23:

Farmagia = 50% off (€24.99)
Rune Factory 3 Special = 75% off (€9.99)
Rune Factory 3 Special Deluxe = 75% off (€12.49)
Rune Factory 4 Special = 85% off (€4.49)
Rune Factory 5 = 80% off (€9.99)
Rune Factory 5 Deluxe = 80% off (€11.99)
Rune Factory 5 Outfits DLC = 80% off (€2.49)
SoS: A Wonderful Life = 60% off (€15.99)
SoS: AWL Seasonal Outfits DLC = 50% off (€1.99)
SoS: Friends of Mineral Town = 85% off (€4.79)
SoS: Pioneers of Olive Town = 75% off (€9.99)
SoS: Pioneers Expansion Pass = 75% off (€3.74)


New SoS:GB Trailer
This week, Marvelous released an extended trailer that included some of the footage used in last week's Nintendo Direct:

From looking at the trailer, it's pretty clear that this is Pioneers of Olive Town put into a Zephyr Town setting, with graphic and gameplay improvements. I would say that is a good thing. PoOT was a pretty game and had heart, even if there were some questionable gameplay components.
From looking at the latest video, we can see:

A new door in the kitchen area looks like the bathroom. In the remake, there is a cabinet, bookshelf, and wall calendar in the spot where the bath/toilet rooms were in the original. There is also an entrance to another space to the right of the new bathroom. In the original game, the entrance to the livestock barn is accessible from inside the farmhouse, which is now in the southeast corner in the remake. So, I'm unsure what that nook east of the new bathroom location is about. Kinda looks like an upstairs? Maybe? No preview videos have ventured into that mysterious area...
There are turnips and cabbage (spring crops) growing in the field at the same time as asparagus, radish, and onion (summer crops). This is the same crop growth system from PoOT, where crops can carry over multiple seasons. The seeds sold at Miguel's booth at the bazaar note the seasons the crop will produce
The original Grand Bazaar doesn't have flowers to grow. This new version does include flowers, such as the Buttercup, which has had a graphic upgrade.
Golden crops; there's a Golden Strawberry shown in the field.
Besides cows, chickens, alpaca, and sheep, the Buffalo from PoOT can also be raised on the farm.
Beekeeping and mushroom logs are in, which weren't in the original game.
Another neat new feature is the windscreens used to protect plant places. Since Zephyr town can be a bit blowy at times, the windscreens can be placed to protect your outdoor products from the negative effects of windstorms. Interact with the windscreen sign next to the field to place the barriers to protect the fields, mushroom logs, and bee hives/flowers for one stormy day.
The basement greenhouse is back, but its field size has been reduced to 45 from the original 54 squares of soil. There are four objects in each corner with an unknown purpose; I'm assuming those are the seasonal controls (i.e., Sun Stones) that determine the conditions of the cellar, but that's my guess.
Another thing that decreased in size is the rucksack. The original had a maximum of 36 slots of space, whereas in the remake, there appears to only be 32 slots. On the other hand, a new function added to the game is the global storage access. Small windy boxes around the world connect to the storage in the farmhouse, allowing you to pull out what you need when necessary instead of having to haul everything around in the rucksack. So it's not too much of an issue that the rucksack is smaller in SoS: GB, but it's noticeable.
The flower vase has moved from a shelf in the southeast corner of the farmhouse to a table next to the front door.
Arata is freak'n tall.
The last scene shows the city where Freya and Jules (Ivan) work can be viewed from a distance. That's where the bazaar visitors come from too.

Siliconera interviewed Director Nakano about the improvements Marvelous made to the remake of Grand Bazaar. He notes that they had considered adding a shipping bin but decided to improve the bazaar mechanism instead to make it more enjoyable for players. Another improvement are new locations to explore, such as a mountain area, which you can see briefly on IGN's hands-on preview video. There's also an art world map on the promotional page for the digital artbook on Nintendo's website that hints that there's a new coastal area.
Siliconera's interview also confirms there is only one kid, with the child taking on the physical traits of the player and partner, just like in PoOT. Though while Nakano claimed that pet herding is something they added to the remake, it existed in the original game, with dogs herding the larger livestock and cats herding the chickens.

Another thing I've noticed from checking out the content from influencers who were invited to visit Marvelous HQ for a hands-on preview is that the snowboard and skateboard track next to the hotel has been replaced with what appears to be the Nature Sprite's hut; see Noisy Pixel's preview with the map of Zephyr Town. I remember that there was always some grumbling with the Winter 20 Snowboard Festival, as it was difficult to get a good score to win the festival if you finished at all. Any crash or bump into an obstacle would disqualify your festival attempt. We'll have to see if the snowboard moved to another spot or dumped altogether.
Another influencer noted that there is no selling of farm animals. They're "donated" to a stall at the bazaar to remove them from your farm, similar to donating unwanted animals to the Chief Sprite in PoOT. This includes removing unwanted pets from your farmhouse, which wasn't something players could do in the original DS game.

Until next time!

- Cher(10 days to go until Last Frost! Almost plant'n time!) https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1743816841 Sat, 05 Apr 2025 01:34:01 +0000 https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1743214789 Happy Farm'n Friday! Let's just get right into it this week, shall we? :)

Everdream Village
The developers of summertime farmstead game, Everdream Valley, are making a sequel to their cozy farming game. Game studio Mooneaters and publisher Untold Games are currently working on Everdream Village, a new farming game that expands on their first game. Set 10 years after the story of Everdream Valley, this new game has in-depth relationship building, landscape development/terraforming, animal breeding, and more!

Farm, fish, craft, cooking, questing, and more in this scenic farming game that welcomes exploration. Collect resources to build structures in the village and befriend the villagers who move in. The townsfolk have moods, personalities, and routines, so making them happy will benefit both them and your town-building goals. Plus, you might find a bit of romance too.
Untold Games plans to publish this game in 2025. More details to be released later. For now, you can add this game to your Steam wishlist:
Everdream Village | Steam Store

G-Mode BokuMono Released
The next mobile-only BokuMono game is now available on Steam with a launch two-week 30% discount. The G-Mode Archive version of Bokujou Monogatari: Minori no Shima puts players in the role of a farmer tasked with revitalizing an island with its bounty sealed away by a goddess. Using pixel graphics and navigation menus, this 2008 mobile game includes animal care, a separate flower garden to grow pretty blooms, and relationship building. You're not going to find a lot of in-depth content, and it is all in Japanese, but it's a cute and inexpensive game.
Bokujou Monogatari: Minori no Shima | Steam Store

SoS: Grand Bazaar
During this week's global Nintendo Direct, Marv surprised many with announcing the next game in the SoS series as another remake. Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar will be released on Steam and Nintendo Switch on August 27. This game is published under Marvelous' brand instead of XSeed Games', as Marv moves forward with growing their company recognition outside of Japan.
Looking back at the Marvelous showcases in 2023 and 2024, it's now obvious they were showing off the development of Grand Bazaar. Like, how did I miss it? lol

Taking the least popular game in the DS era and making an updated version is an interesting decision; on the other hand, many players skipped the original game because of its lackluster interest. So for some fans, this is a new game. The DS version was released in 2008 in Japan, 2010 in North America, and 2011 in Europe.
Another note is that the "Grand" in the game's title was added to the remake. The DS game's name in Japan was simply "Welcome! Wind's Bazaar," which was then published as "Grand Bazaar" by Natsume. Now we have "Let's! Wind's Grand Bazaar" in Japan and simply "Grand Bazaar" outside of Japan. Marv sticking with the old English name brings awareness that it is a remake for those who were around in 2008 (and if you weren't, hopefully you're in for some fun!)

If you're unfamiliar with Grand Bazaar, the premise of the game is to run a farm, producing goods to sell at the once-a-week bazaar held at the market grounds in town. You could sell goods to the shops in town during off-bazaar days, but the real profit comes from selling to visitors of the once-famous marketplace. The income and reputation earned is tallied the next day by the town mayor, Felix, who will reward you with a small prize. Improving the goods you sell and upgrading your bazaar stall helps to reach the mayor's profit target, increasing the bazaar size with the goal of making the Zephyr town's bazaar the greatest in the world once again.
The game is generally a hoardfest of saving your best goods to sell at the Saturday shop, whether it is the crops you grow on your farm, the animal goods you can process using the town's windmills, the bugs you catch (ya, bug hunt!), and more. You can also shop at the bazaar and buy things from the other booths such as tool and building upgrades, cooked meals and their recipes, seeds, animals, and so on. The larger the bazaar, the more variety of booths.

Though you can bring all that you can to your stall, you also need to entice market customers to actually stop and buy your stuff. Kind of like a mini game, use the bazaar bell at your booth to get the attention of the folks walking by. Depending on their reaction, they may be interested in purchasing something from your inventory. They'll walk up to the item for sale and then indicate how many they want (e.g., 2 Turnips). You can sell all or some of what they want, or ignore them, which is usually a bad thing. In the DS game, ignored customers are less likely to shop at your booth if they walk by another time. Sometimes customers don't want to buy anything at all - those who are asking for information will earn reputation points for your booth if you answer their question correctly, at least in the DS version.
This remake has little magical sprites who help with cheering your customers to buy more more more! The Cheer Squad gauge in the upper-left corner of the market game increases as you sell goods to customers, allowing you to trigger a Cheer Time bonus mode to earn more money from sales.
You'll also meet visitors from prior BokuMono games. While the original game has characters from the Island of Happiness/Sunshine Islands series (Gannon and Chen), the remake includes more cameo visits. The ones we know of so far are:

Ronald from Save the Homeland and Hero of Leaf Valley
Pierre from Island of Happiness and Sunshine Islands
Rebecca from A New Beginning
Matsuba from Story of Seasons 1
Woofio from Trio of Towns

There are new characters too, such as the two new marriage candidates Diana and Arata. Diana is a serious member of the Zephyr bazaar committee with a passion for revitalizing the town's market (reminds me of Ina from Tale of Two Towns), while Arata is a martial artist and big brother character (kinda like Ludus in Trio of Towns).
The remaining 10 marriage candidates from the original game have had a nice glow-up, with the exception of Daisy/Anemone. Her character has been completely redesigned from a young lady in a maid outfit to a more adult-like style while wearing a dirndl dress. She also received a name change from Anemone (her original JP name) to Maple; we'll find out soon if that's also her new EN name, too. All other marriage candidates retain their JP names from the 2008 game, though their EN names have been changed from the original Natsume version: Sherry is now Sophia, and Ivan is now Jules.
Even non-candidates are getting name changes, such as the cafe manager Marian is now called by her Japanese name, Mina. Another major redesign is with the three shopkeeper brothers, Raul, Enrique, and Diego (JP: Mucho, Lucho, and Fucho). The sombreros and ponchos are gone, replaced with snazzy hats, capes, and jackets. Mucho/Raul is now named Miguel. We'll see what other names are updated as Marvelous releases more EN information.
Marvelous in Japan has started posting introduction videos of the Japanese version on their Twitter account, including such topics as:

Character creation - Face styles, skin tone, hair style and color, eye color, voice option, facial hair options (whaaaaa can haz mustache!), moles, freckles, and body styles
Voice Options available during character creation based on four Japanese voice actors - Yui Kondo (style A), Junta Terashima (B), Ryota Osaka (C), and Hidenori Takahashi (D).
More Voice Options to choose from, this time from Yuki Kuwahara (E), Anna Yamaki (F), Reina Ueda (G), and Maria Naganawa (H).

The game includes speaking voices for the character as well, in both the Japanese and English versions. Though Marvelous EU will also be releasing the game with dialog translated in German, French, and Spanish, the audio voice overs will only be available in English and Japanese.

Naturally there will be livestock and poultry. In the DS game the animals were limited to two types of chickens, two types of cows, and two types of sheep. In the remake, there are more varieties (there's 4 chickens just in the above image), plus alpaca! Owning dogs and cats would help with herding the animals every good-weather day, with the cats caring for birds and dogs assigned to the livestock. In the DS game, selling pets wasn't possible. I expect this will be corrected in the new version.
Animal products could be processed using the windmills around town, which takes time depending on the amount of wind blowing through the town. In the DS game, blowing on the console microphone would create in-game wind, speeding up the windmill processing time. Wind is still a factor in the game - there is a windsock icon in the upper-right corner of the above image to indicate the wind power - but most likely we're not going to power it with our mouths.

Physical Switch preorders will have a standard edition and a limited/premium edition for a higher price. Both NA and EU will have the same special edition containing a copy of the Switch game, a 115 page art book, a CD soundtrack, a small suffolk sheep plushie, and a cloth poster in a special box.
In Japan, well, it's Marvelous. Naturally there are a bajillion retailer specific preorder options. Microfiber towels, keychains, pins, postcards, and acrylic standees. Some retailers are offering digital costumes and hang-glider codes: Eon has a pink dog-themed sweatshirt outfit, Kojima has a western outfit, Geo has a chef outfit, Joshin has a yellow bee-themed outfit, Rakuten Books is giving out a blue bouquet outfit, and Yodobashi Camera has a turnip costume. The digital preorders in Japan from the Nintendo eShop have a cow costume and glider bonus goods. You can see the retailer-specific options in Japan on the official JP website:
SoS: Grand Bazaar | Preorders Options in Japan
But, wait, there's more!

Digital preorders will be available in a standard game-only version and a deluxe edition, which unlocks access to the game's DLC, the Trunk of Transformation (/dramatic_music). This DLC includes a ninja-themed outfit, glider, and bazaar booth decor; four new hair style options; and four animal costumes. There's also a suuuuuuper deluxe digital edition that includes the game, the DLC, and a digital version of the artbook and soundtrack for about €10 more than the deluxe edition.
We'll be bazaar'n in about 5 months!


Until next time

-Cher
(Another rainy weekend, and the lawn grass is getting so tall…)
https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1743214789 Sat, 29 Mar 2025 02:19:49 +0000 https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1742599931 Happy Farm'n Friday! Although the berry vines are budding leaves and ready to go, the containers that prevent them from spreading everywhere are a little worn down. More like disintegrating. The marionberry wooden half-barrel container is in better shape then the raspberry's cedar box, but both are just a good kick away from falling apart. Decided to order some metal raised planter boxes to replace the old wood ones. Most of the metal boxes are 2 feet wide, but luckily I found a place that manufactures narrow-style planter boxes that will fit in the space between the fence and the lawn. Though if we got rid of all that boring grass, maybe we could have ordered standard-sized boxes. That's a project for another day.

PixelShire Dated
Indie developer Kappa Bit's community and farming game Pixelshire will be released on May 8. Published by Maximum Entertainment (publisher of dino-farming game Paleo Pines), this game will initially be available on Steam, with home console versions (Switch and PS5) coming at a later date this year.

A mix of cozy farming, exploration, and city builder, players will be tasked with helping a group of refugees start new lives in the land of Arcadia. Terraform the land to build your dream farm of crops and livestock. There's also fishing, spell crafting, cooking, building construction, and decorating.
Become friends with the townsfolk of Pixelshire, which can lead to new skills and talents to make farm life easier. You can explore the world side-by-side with a townsperson, like having a little helper pet for collecting resources. There's a bit of romance, too!
Check it out today on Steam:
Pixelshire | Steam Store
Kappa Bits notes that the game should be playable on Steam Deck, though full deck support will be worked on after the PC release in May.

Farm Folks Change Name
Crytivo announced this week that the 2018 Kickstarter farming game they took over a few years later, Farm Folks, has been rebranded. Recently, Crytivo had toyed with the idea of changing the name, as their rebuild of the crowdfunded farming game has expanded into a larger world with ghosts and automation. Its core is still farming, but there are new elements as well. To reflect the changes they've made to the original, the new name for Farm Folks is Autonomica.
In the latest video dev blog, Crytivo details how the all-important crops in this game have unique growth criteria and will check for sunlight and water quantities. Because of the sunlight component, crops do best when grown outside or in a greenhouse ("... if you can see the sun in the game, so can your plants."). Planting crops indoors is possible when utilizing an indoor lighting system.
Livestock animals can be captured from the wild, with a mix of herbivores and carnivores. Keeping them properly penned will ensure there is peace between species. Players must also consider the size of their enclosures, as having not enough space for the animals housed within can cause stress and sickness. The tameable animals live in a variety of biomes, and rarer animals might only appear during specific times of day or during specific outdoor weather. The in-game weather is diverse and will change throughout the day and location of the player.
With the new name reflecting the automation aspect, players can build mechanized components to make farm production more efficient. Setting up trade routes and cargo drones to help the local townsfolk. Advanced machinery is fueled by the energy of the forest Phantoms: ghostly beings that appear only at night. Capturing these strange specters may also help to unravel the mystery behind the weird time dilations. Hard-to-capture Phantoms may require players to travel into the future to research how they may be caught.

The building mechanic in Autonomica allows players to completely customize the shape and design of their home-base farm house. Mix and match doors, windows, flooring, and so on to make your own special house. Placing objects in the house can influence the protagonist's traits.
There's also a multi-player aspect where you can hunt Phantoms with your friends or engage in extraction battles against other players. This is done by leaping into the Finite future, where you can see how the world you've built looks after a long time has expired. Other players' world structures will also appear in Finite, giving a unique feel to each Finite exploration based on how each player combatant built their towns in their primary timeline.
Though the original game already received crowdfunding support, Crytivo notes they did not receive any of the campaign money when they took the game over from Overgrown. The original code was not in a usable form. Essentially, Crytivo started over from scratch, changing the game engine and many other features to create their own version of Farm Folks that is vastly different from the original. The company also intends to honor the original Farm Folks rewards and hope to make the original Farm Folks available in its incomplete form.
The Farm Folks v2 Kickstarter campaign will launch around April 15.
Autonomica | Kickstarter

New Old BokuMono
Back in the old days, farming cell phone games were a bit more simple. Once lost in time, these BokuMono classics have been revitalized by G-Mode for the modern day. The first was a rerelease/port of the 2007 mobile game Bokujou Monogatari Mobile: Life & Love in September 2024 on the Nintendo eShop in Japan and on Steam globally. It's a simple game with Friends of Mineral Town GBA graphics, where players manage their farm and chat with characters in a narrative format.
Last weekend, G-Mode announced the 2008 sequel to Life & Love will also be released on the Nintendo eShop in Japan and on Steam. Bokujou Monogatari Mobile: Minori no Shima (roughly Island of Harvest) uses the same style of GBA graphics, but with a new story.

Hundreds of years ago, the island was once known for its abundant harvests, until the humans began to fight amongst each other. The conflicts upset the island's goddess so much that she divided the land into seven parts, which also resulted in sealing her own powers. Oops! That's where the player enters, who is the only person to answer the goddess' request for help to restore her powers. They're not alone though, as the goddess sends their child to help manage the farm menus, similar to how "mom" helped in Life & Love.
Play as a boy or girl farmer, build a new life on a farm while also building relationships with the villagers. Perhaps go on a date and find true love? The farm area can be freely explored, while venturing into town are via dialog text and menu options, like the original Gameboy games.
This long-lost BokuMono will be released on March 29 (next Saturday!)
Bokujou Monogatari Mobile: Minori no Shima | Steam Store Page
Bokujou Monogatari Mobile: Minori no Shima | Official Website


Until next time

-Cher
(Mr.Fogu ordered a game from Gamestop. Was sent an XBox edition instead of the PS5 edition as noted on his order. We haz no XBox lol Gamestop… )
https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1742599931 Fri, 21 Mar 2025 23:32:11 +0000 https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1741996468 Happy Farm'n Friday! I'm still burying kitchen scraps in the front-yard raised bed, while at the same time pulling out Big Doug's fingerling roots. Ug, that tree just won't get out of the garden beds. The bed farthest from the tree is where I wanted to plant beans this year, but for the bed closest to Doug, I may just stick with shallow-rooted lettuce. I'm dreading the rooty mess waiting to be discovered in that second garden box.

HM Cozy Bundle Images
This week, Natsume released a few screenshots of their upcoming re-release of Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley and Harvest Moon: Skytree Village. These Nintendo 3DS games were released in 2014/2016 and were the first mainline Harvest Moon games designed by Natsume after the 15-year partnership between Marvelous and Natsume dissolved for business reasons. Since the bestest Nintendo platform is not generally supported anymore, these two games are being upgraded to support the Nintendo Switch and will be released as a two-game cartridge in June 2025.
Here are some side-by-side comparisons of DS to Switch graphic upgrades:


Lost Valley 3DS on left, Lost Valley Switch on right


Skytree 3DS on left, Skytree Switch on right
The second screen usage on the older game was mainly for the world map and menus, such as bag inventory and save/load options. On the updated version, the world map is now located in the upper corner of the Switch screen. The 3DS lower screen also listed the command options after entering Cultivation Mode, which allowed players to modify the game's world terrain by building plateaus or digging valleys. In fact, to reach the Harvest Goddess or the Underworld King, you were expected to build pathways up and down. Since the Cultivation Mode was just a simple button-press toggle, it should be easy enough to implement in the Switch version. All the 3DS games' controls should translate over well enough.
If you're not familiar with the cultivation options in the original 3DS games, elevation was a big factor when it came to triggering crop mutations and catching fish. Players could terraform their valley space to be as tall or as deep as they wanted by adding or removing soil via Cultivation Mode. In Lost Valley, some species of fish would only appear in water spaces that were within a range of land levels (e.g., Rainbow Trout only could be caught in a water area that was between land level 15 and 30). While in Skytree Village, it was the level of the water and the size of the pond. FYI, you'll need a pond that is at least 23 squares by 23 squares if you want to catch a Piranha in Skytree Village.
Crops could mutate into new varieties based on the current season (spring, summer, fall, or winter), the soil quality (dry, mixed, grassy, or swampy), the health of the plants (storms, watering frequency, fertilizer), and the elevation of the seeds were planted (levels 1 through 31). Having four factors that influenced crops made for a very challenging group effort when trying to discover every crop in the game; one crop only mutates on specific soil at a mid-level during fall when planted in a checkerboard pattern, with an empty square between each seedling!
Growing everything in the 3DS games was insanely ridiculous compared to the more-recent Winds of Anthos. I am hoping that crop growing has been simplified in the Switch game. At a minimum, the amount of crop health damaged by storms needs to be reduced. Alas, I'm not involved in the game's development. If I was, then I would have made OG Doc a marriage candidate.

He does look pretty snazzy on Switch though. Can't complain there! I don't expect he'll be a marriage candidate added in the Switch port. That vixen florist Carol was added in Skytree Village, who was then shipped together with Doc in Seeds of Memories, most likely due to my polite (yet repeated) inquiries about Doc's lack of marriage candi-dateness. Bah, Carol…
Preorders for the Harvest Moon Cozy Bundle are available worldwide. In Asia, distribution will be handled by Soft Source (who also managed the Asia releases of Everafter Falls and Sunny Side), while the European release is handled by Natsume's overseas partner, Numskull Game. The EU physical release will be available as a Collector's Edition which includes two sticker sheets and sticker backgrounds, an A4-sized poster, and a CD soundtrack. North America's physical release (US, Mexico, and Canada) will include an acrylic standee, priced at $39.99 USD. NTSC preorders are available now from the Natsume online store:
Pre-Order: Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley & Skytree Village Nintendo Switch with FREE Acrylic Standee | Natsume Store

Indie Dev Updates
Pathea has released a free demo for My Time at Sandrock on all home console digital platforms (PS5, Switch, and XBox) in North America, if you've wanted to give this builder-style farming game a try. The demo doesn't appear to be on the EU or Australian Nintendo eShops.

The publisher of the recently released shop farming game Sugardew Island, for sale as of March 7, revealed sales data about their game's audience, which is kind of interesting:
Nintendo = a total of 75% of all sales, of which 50% were digital and 25% physicalSteam = 18% (not bad…)PlayStation 5 = 7%PlayStation 4 = less than 1%
For the Switch release, they received the most sales from Japan, followed by the US in second, and Germany in third. Cozy farm'n on Switch is popular in Japan!

Stairway Games recently revealed their roadmap plans for version 1.2 and version 1.3 of Coral Island.
Update 1.2 is planned for the first half of 2025 (ideally this summer) and brings with it four-player co-op multiplayer support (including co-op marriage), a revamped romance system, and more. Romance will have events tied to heart level requirements. Players must complete hanging-out events, give a going-steady locket, then increase affection until another event is cleared and a Diamond Ring can be given. There are post-marriage heart events too! New Spooky Festival costumes will be included, such as that electrifying outfit Pablo will be sporting for the event.
Update 1.3 will release in the second half of 2025 and bring a Merfolk festival, games to play at the Recreation Center, a Haunted House game to play during the Spooky Festival, and growth stages for the player's children.

Steam Spring Sale
A celebration of flowers and fauna, the annual Steam Spring Sale offers us farm'n game fans an abundance of discounts for digital farming games. These deals expire Thursday, March 20:

Blue Oak Bridge = 20% off
Coral Island = 30% off
Cornucopia (Early Access) = 20% off
Critter Crops = 50% off
Doraemon Story of Seasons = 50% off
Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom = 35% off
Echoes of the Plum Grove = 40% off
Everafter Falls = 20% off
Everdream Valley = 65% off
Everholm = 40% off
Fae Farm = 50% off (DLC is 40% off)
Farmagia = 60% off (it's kinda farming…)
Fields of Mistria (Early Access) = 20% off
Forest Spirit (Early Access) = 50% off
Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Special = 50% off
Harvest Moon: One World = 50% off
Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos = 50% off
Harvestella = 50% off
Immortal Life = 50% off
Little Known Galaxy = 30% off
Luma Island = 20% off
One Lonely Outpost = 55% off (already? 1.0 launched on March 6…)
Ova Magica (Early Access) = 20% off
Paleo Pines = 60% off
Pathless Woods = 20% off
Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons = 50% off ($5!)
My Time at Sandrock = 40% off (DLC is 20% off)
Monster Harvest = 75% off
Fantasy Farming: Orange Season = 25% off
Roots of Pacha = 40% off
Rune Factory 3 Special = 60% off
Rune Factory 4 Special = 70% off (only $9!)
Rune Factory 5 = 60% off
Rusty's Retirement = 30% off (only $5!)
Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin = 50% off
Shepherds Crossing = 50% off
Snacko (Early Access) = 20% off
Stardew Valley = 40% off
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life = 50% off (DLC is 60% off)
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town = 75% off
"Story of Seasons" Life and Love: GMode Archive (JP language only) = 30% off
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town = 65% off
Sugardew Island: Your cozy Farm Shop = 15% off
SunnySide = 40% off
Sun Haven = 60% off
Wylde Flowers = 25% off

Whew, that's a lot of farming…

Until next time

-Cher
(Happy Pi Day!)
https://fogu.com/hm/index.php?s=news&p=updates&t=1741996468 Fri, 14 Mar 2025 23:54:28 +0000