Harvest Moon

1996 · Simulation · SNES

Overview

Harvest Moon (1996) is Yasuhiro Wada's Super Famicom farming game, in which the player restores a run-down inherited farm. It is considered one of the first farm life sims.

Deep Dive

The player inherits a run-down farm from their grandfather and sets about restoring it. Each day brings chores: clearing land, planting and watering crops, selling the harvest, and caring for livestock, including milking cows. Between the work the player can attend festivals, befriend the villagers and forage. Electronic Gaming Monthly called it "an epic adventure in agriculture" that is "as fun as it is original".

Developer Story

Yasuhiro Wada directed and produced the game, developed by Amccus and published by Pack-In-Video in Japan on 9 August 1996. Natsume brought it to North America in 1997, and Nintendo released it in Europe in 1998.

Did You Know?

The localised versions changed references to alcohol to "juice".
Later games in the series are released under the name Story of Seasons, because of a rights split over localisation.