8 Tips For Getting Started In ‘Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town’

If this is your first rodeo playing a Story of Seasons game, the unlimited possibilities and unlockables can be a little overwhelming—there’s a huge list of extra features and stuff you may not be aware of. Here’s a small list of things to do that will help you get started on the right track. Bear in mind, some of these can be spoiler-y. If you’re looking for a clean experience, this guide may not be right for you. Happy farming!

NOTE: Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a remake of the 2003 GBA release Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town. You can read more about the company’s rebranding here.

1. Mining

Ladders to the next floor will spawn on every floor of the mine, just use your Hoe to dig at the floor. Eventually, you’ll discover stairs that you can descend.

You’ll discover more profitable ores along the way as you delve deeper into the mines. You probably won’t get very far at first due to your low amount of stamina, but later on you can bring food into the mine to help you progress to lower floors.

2. Offering Gifts to The Harvest Goddess

You can offer daily gifts to the Harvest Goddess by throwing crops grown on your farm or flowers into the river located next to the hot spring. The Harvest Goddess is an eligible bachelorette, so if you want to win her heart, be sure to give her gifts once daily. The Goddess will give you something in return once you’ve given her enough gifts.

If you’d like to know more, here’s a list of all available gifts from the Harvest Goddess.

3. Befriend The Nature Sprites

By befriending the Nature Sprites early on, they will assist you on your farm with things like watering/harvesting crops, and caring for your animals.

To play games with the Nature Sprites, give them gifts and increase their Friendship Points (FP) to 3; once you’ve increased their FP to 3 or higher, you can ask them for assistance on your farm, and in spring, they may invite you to a Tea Party.

Flour is an easy gift that they all enjoy, and it can be purchased at Jeff’s Supermarket for 50 G. I made an informational guide on the Nature Sprite’s here.

4. Your First Horse

You must first speak to Mugi before he will give you a newborn foal. Mugi (or “Barley” in the GBA version) will visit your farm on the very next day after you’ve spoken to him.

To raise your affection with the foal, purchase a Brush from Saibara’s Blacksmith shop, and brush the horse daily. By raising enough affection with the foal, you can eventually ride the horse around town and even participate in the Horse Race Festivals!

5. Receive The Fishing Rod

To receive the Fishing Rod, visit Zack’s shack by the beach when the weather is sunny with an empty tool slot! Be sure you have an empty tool slot when you visit him, and he’ll hand over your very first Fishing Rod! This is the only receivable Fishing Rod, and it’s the only way to catch fish and other items.

6. Grow Cucumbers + Plenty of Crops

A special character will appear at the Lake Mine if you throw in a Cucumber. Cucumber’s are grown in the spring, and you will be gifted a special item if you throw 10 Cucumbers into the Lake Mine 10 days in a row.

Crops now have a Star Quality ranking, and selling crops on your farm is an easy way to make money. By doing so, you might get some unlockables! Be patient, and ask the Harvest Sprites for help.

7. New Fruit Trees

Talk to Gotz to grow seasonal fruit trees on your farm in the new Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town remake. You can grow up to 5 on your farm at once, and there are a few different varieties: Apple, Grape, and Orange trees.

• Apple trees will produce fruit in the Summer and Autumn
• Grape trees will produce fruit in the Spring and Summer
• Orange trees will produce fruit in the Autumn and Winter

All tree fruit sells for 30 G each. Tree fruits do not have a Star Quality rank, and they cost 1,000 G.

The trees will produce their fruit until you chop them down. You do not need to water the fruit trees or add fertilizer. The dropped fruit will not pile up if the fruit left on the ground, so try to remember to grab the fruit during your morning farm chores. The Harvest Sprites will NOT harvest your trees for you.

8. Breed Your Livestock

Try to focus on breeding your animals as soon as possible to get them to max heart cap (10 Hearts).

All livestock purchased from Mugi now begin with a limit of 5 hearts. Affection points (the little hearts underneath an animals name) will now increase by breeding livestock together.

I’ve included the cycle below to give you an idea of what this means. Realistically, if you start early, you can potentially breed livestock to max hearts by the end of year 1, as long as you get started early!

• reach the 5 ❤️ limit → breed → offspring will have a 6 ❤️ limit.
• reach the 6 ❤️ limit → breed → offspring will have a 7 ❤️ limit.
• Repeat until 10 ❤️ limit (10 is max!)

I have a more thorough article on the new affection limit and how to increase it here.

This remake offers several of challenges and new experiences for new and old players alike! Just be patient, and enjoy the game at your own pace.

Image Credits: Story of Seasons, Story of Seasons