Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town

Release Dates

The first of two games to release on the GameBoy Advance, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town was effectively a remake of the PlayStation game, Harvest Moon: Back to Nature. But unlike other games that have been ported to a handheld system, this one grew by leaps and bounds! The size of the cartridge was the only thing small about it.

Though the game began with the player inheriting a farm, there was no evaluation or time limit. Instead, the farm was yours to work as long as you liked. And with a wealth of new additions to focus on, that was probably a good thing. Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town contained vastly more cooking recipes, tool upgrades (including Cursed Tools), shippable items, and a mine that stretched 255 levels underground!

Like some of its predecessors, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town included the ability to marry a bachelorette from town. And, once again, there were rivals competing for their hand that you had to overcome. But there was one bachelorette who didn’t have any other suitors for you to compete with: the Harvest Goddess! To win her affection, players had to catch every species of fish, ship every item, collect nine Goddess Jewels, and much, much more.

Fun Facts

• The animal-raising capabilities were expanded, making it possible to raise up to eight chickens and sixteen sheep or cows. Livestock allowed to graze outside on sunny days gained affection for the player.
• Cursed Tools made working in the farm (or digging in the mine) much faster, as they increased the area affected, but they came with a major drawback: the only way to unequip a Cursed Tool was by having it blessed or upgraded to a Blessed Tool.
• It was only possible to get married if you bought the Big Bed from the TV Shopping Network. And the only way to even witness an advertisement for the Big Bed was to purchase every item ever advertised on the television.
• Building on past linking abilities, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town could be linked with the GameCube title, Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, to unlock additional music tracks, spread gossip between the towns, learn new recipes, and gain a new Seaside Cottage.
• Nine hidden Jewels of Truth were scattered across the land, to be found by those who performed major feats. Once all nine Jewels of Truth were found, the player earned the Truth Gem, which displayed Stamina and Fatigue levels by fractions.