Live your best life here under the Harvest Moon!

Harvest Moon Games

In today’s world, games like Stardew Valley have taken the gaming scene by storm, Story of Seasons is a worthy successor series, and even the somewhat niche Rune Factory is a splendid good time. But when it comes to farm simulation RPGs, all of the above owe their existence to the real roots of the genre: Harvest Moon. Originally released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1996, Harvest Moon truly pioneered what it means to be a youngster dropped into a simple life and making the best of it. If Final Fantasy is about saving the world and Grand Theft Auto is about wrecking it on your way to the top, Harvest Moon is somewhere off in the distance from the biggest video game behemoths, content to let players take their time in a charming setting with memorable characters and even marriage options. In fact, the Japanese title for the first game is Farm Story. It might not sound exciting on paper — or, if you’re reading this, on a computer screen — but MyEmulator challenges you to check out this seminal series for yourself completely free!

Play Harvest Moon - Emulator Online

Unwind here with the most wonderful Harvest Moon Games

Could we possibly host Harvest Moon here without the original for SNES? We think not! Even among the most influential farm sim franchise on the planet, the first chapter is ultimately the most creative purely for getting the whole thing started. Producer Yasuhiro Wada, who has gone on to oversee the Story of Seasons games as spiritual successors to Harvest Moon, brought his unique genius to bear with a premise that many found bonkers at the time.

When he inherits a farm from his late grandfather, a lad seeks to restore his dear grandfather’s legacy by bringing that farm out of a state of disrepair and maintaining it respectfully for years to come. The player must choose how to spend their day, each day, every day, between growing crops, tilling the land, raising livestock, and most iconically of all, building relationships with the local villagers. Be sure to take care of your animals! They can and will die if you leave them on their own for too long, and there’s nothing sadder in gaming than realizing your beloved chicken has flown the proverbial mortal coop.

The direct sequel to Harvest Moon is the aptly titled Harvest Moon 64. (Nintendo just loved tacking on “64” to their games in that era, didn’t they?) Released in 1999, toward the tail end of the N64’s run, Harvest Moon 64 was met with universal delight for taking the basis of the original game and expanded on it significantly. Progression feels far more natural; for example, the farm’s in an even worse shape when the player arrives, and can look all the more beautiful by the end. Players must choose their tasks wisely now, because there is a more limited amount of time to work, making the RPG staple element of choice all the more apparent. And if the notion of having a limited amount of stamina per day sounds familiar to fans of more recent games like Stardew Valley, it should! Even that got its start here.

Like any successful series during the 2000s, Harvest Moon also received some portable spinoffs. These are actually among the best-reviewed entries, bucking the sadly common trend of handheld fare never quite living up to its console brethren. If Friends of Mineral Town sounds familiar to you, it might be because it was remade in 2019 as Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town. But the “OG” Game Boy Advance version is a critical darling often cited as the zenith of Harvest Moon for giving its characters such wonderfully vibrant personalities and its enriching storyline.

MyEmulator even has Grand Bazaar, a lesser-known entry that even many ardent Harvest Moon veterans have never chanced upon. It’s the last in a long line of Nintendo DS chapters, and it centers on a more realistic approach to running a shop. If you’re in the market for something decidedly different, look no further!