Top 5 Things That Made Harvest Moon Great
Posted on May 14, 2012 by Michael Gugel in Gaming
Harvest Moon was one of the original farming simulators. It sold millions of copies and helped inspire the most successful game of all time – Farmville. Even though it’s an old game (from 2000), it’s still STRANGELY ADDICTING.
Min-maxing: Getting the maximum gold for the least effort.
Here are the top 5 things I loved about the game:
- Creation: When I saw my seeds germinating for the first time, I felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
- Cliffhangers: Movies, books and TV shows use cliffhangers all the time. Games? Not so much. But Harvest Moon does! I always felt on the verge of something awesome when I quit a session. I wanted to see my seeds germinate. I wanted to see what my barn would look like with a chicken. I wanted to ride my horse. To do that, I had to come back.
- Routine: I woke up, harvested some bamboo from the mountains, watered my crops, talked to my horse and then did my errands before nightfall. There’s some simple beauty in a repeatable pattern within a progression arc.
- Engrossing Economy: The currency felt REAL. I almost felt like I made real money from selling my crops!
- Set ‘em Up and I’ll Knock ‘em Down: The barns and stables are prebuilt, but they’re empty. It was like a progress bar that was half-full. I couldn’t resist wanting to fill it up.
Intrigued? You can download Harvest Moon: Back to Nature in the Playstation Store.
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