Story of Seasons, known in Japan as Bokujō Monogatari[a] and formerly known as Harvest Moon, is an agricultural farming life simulation video game series created by Yasuhiro Wada and developed by Victor Interactive Software (acquired by Marvelous Entertainment in 2003, now Marvelous Inc.).

Over a period of time, the player tends to crops and livestock, befriends nearby townsfolk, and eventually marries and starts a family.

[5][6] The resulting spin-off series has caused some degree of confusion among fans and video game news sources.

At that time, Natsume Inc. maintained the rights to the Harvest Moon series name after Marvelous announced that it would have its subsidiary, Xseed Games, take over North American distribution.

[9] Because of this, Xseed began bringing the series to North America under the Story of Seasons title, beginning with the release of the game of the same name.

In order for crops to grow the player must first clear the field from weeds, rocks, boulders, branches, and stumps.

They also must consider the cost, sell price, number of harvests and growth time of the various produce available before planting.

Since then, other games have introduced new crops, such as cabbage, carrots, onions, strawberries, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, rice, pineapples, cucumbers and more.

Later titles introduced sheep and a separate feed for chickens, as well as machines that could change milk into cheese, eggs into mayonnaise, and wool into yarn.

In Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility silkworms and ostriches were introduced to the series, and the new game also enabled players to befriend wild animals and persuade them to live on their farm.

Eggs can be placed in an incubator to hatch a chick in a few days, while giving a cow or sheep a Miracle Potion will impregnate them.

Pest animals are also found in older Story of Seasons games (for example, Friends of Mineral Town) including wild dogs, and gophers.

Some festivals are contests with prizes available, while others are social events, some being equivalent to actual holidays, such as Thanksgiving, New Year's Day, and Christmas Eve.

One Story of Seasons game, the Japanese version of Harvest Moon DS Cute, had allowed players to marry someone of the same sex (termed the "Best Friends" system).

The feature was removed from the North American version over concern its inclusion would have raised the game's ESRB rating.

[11] In the remake game Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, players are allowed to marry someone of the same sex.

In September 2011, Rising Star Games announced that they had sold more than a million copies of the series in PAL regions.

[82][83][84] Happy Farm is considered one of the most influential games of the 2000s, while in early 2010 FarmVille had a peak audience of 84 million monthly active users.