Ushi No Tane Forum

I've been thinking about this. Ever since Stardew, we've seen quite a few HM inspired games start development. Will all finish development? Probably not. But some might.

I've heard the rhetoric about how something can turn from "clones" to a genre. Like how all FPS' were considered "Doom clones" in the 90s but by the early 2000s most gamera recognized them as a genre. Once there's enough popularity, they stop being just clones.

Could that happen to HM? It's not the first life sim or farming sim out there, but I can't say I've seen any other series similar to it. The closest is Animal Crossing and even that has numerous differences (no dating, minimum gardening, everyone but you is a pastel, talking animal, etc). Devs seem resistant to make life sims - despite the popularity of The Sims and AC, almost no clones exist - but the rise of digital games has changed that. I've seen a lot of sims on the mobile market, and digital seems more profitable for niche genres than having copies in stores.

Not sure what genre you would call them though. Farm Sim seems to specific as there's so much more you can do, but Life Sim seems to general as that could be anything.

The Social Farming genre could fit anything from Harvest Moon clones to propaganda games.

Shepherds Crossing. Had 2 games, from my memory. One for DS and the other for one of the early PlayStation.

Farming simulators have definitely boomed but Bokumono hasn't been the only one. Just the main monopoly for awhile.

And while the indie ones won't be True Blue Competition, Stardew Valley has already made a big impression and more will be following suit. Hopefully more serious competitions will come forth.

Cause lord knows every series needs some kind of serious competition. *glares at Sims*