Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town

Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town (牧場物語 ミネラルタウンのなかまたち) is the first Harvest Moon game released for Game Boy Advance. The game was later remade into Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town in 2020 with returning characters, locations, and features, as well as some new and updated features.

Plot
You take control of Pete (can be renamed in the beginning of the game), a young boy living in a city with his family. The game begins with a cutscene depicting a family trip you had in the past. You got lost and met an old man, after which you became friends and promised to write to each other. At one point, you no longer receive letters from your pen-pal, and growing concerned, you traveled to Mineral Town to find the reason for the unexplained silence.

Upon your arrival, the mayor reminds you by saying your friend has died six months ago and that you have inherited the farm, which, due to obvious reasons, is run down. Soon, you make it your mission to restore the farm to its former glory.

Gameplay
Pete starts with a farm overrun with weeds, money, and some old tools left by the farm's previous owner. The main goal of the game is to run the farm successfully by growing crops and raising livestock with two other main goals; befriending the inhabitants of Mineral Town and marrying one of the bachelorettes before five rivals do.

Bachelorettes



 * Ann - Ann is the daughter of Doug who helps him managing the Inn. She is free-spirited and a bit of a tomboy, making her father worried that Ann will never get married. Ann enjoys cleaning as much as cooking. She can almost always be found at the Inn, but likes to go to the Goddess Spring during sunny early morning.
 * Indexdd.jpeg Elli - Elli is a nurse working at the clinic with Doctor. Most of the time she's at the clinic selling medicine, but also takes care of her grandmother Ellen, and her younger brother Stu on Wednesdays, when the clinic is closed. She has a very motherly personality, and constantly worries about others.
 * Marrying_Karen.jpg is an outgoing girl who loves to hang out around the bar or beach at night. She works in the Supermarket during the daytime. Karen is a horrible cook and one of her dishes knocks out the main character in one of her heart events.
 * Marrying_mary.png Mary - Mary is a shy and kindhearted girl who works at the town's library. She loves to read books and is interested in plants like her father Basil. She is also trying to write some books of her own, but is often too shy to show anyone her work.
 * Popuri is a feminine and bubbly girl who works at the family poultry farm. She likes the player's puppy, but is afraid when it grows up, as well as eggs and chickens. Popuri also is sad that before her father left, he and her brother had a special relationship before she was left out.
 * Harvest Goddess - The Harvest Goddess lives at the waterfall near the Spring Mine. Before Pete can marry her, he must complete several challenging requests. Unlike the other candidates, her heart level is invisible, so Pete has to propose to her and see what her response is. She does not live in his house once they are married, but only appears for the events like marriage and childbirth. Unlike the other girls, there is no rival for her affection. The Harvest Goddess never leaves the spring mine, so she is easy to find. It seems only Carter knows of her existence for certain.

Rivals
This game also features 5 rivals for every girl except the Harvest Goddess, who will go on to marry their counterpart before Pete does.
 * Cliff is a traveler who has come to Mineral Town. He is homeless and spends most of his time at the Church. If Cliff decides to stay in Mineral Town through an event, he will move into the Inn and get a part-time job at the Winery. After Cliff moves out of Mineral Town, Ann will never marry him.
 * Doctor - Doctor works at the hospital and can give examinations of your energy level for 10g. He works alongside his nurse, Elli.
 * Gray - Gray is an anti-social blacksmith apprentice. He works under his grandfather Saibara, whose criticism is deemed too harsh and hence frustrates him. Gray has found solace in reading when he's not busy at work, and so spends a lot of time at the library. Because of this, he spends a lot of time with Mary; they will marry if Pete chooses not to marry her.
 * Kai - Kai only appears during Summer and is Popuri's love interest. Due to his carefree personality, almost all men in Mineral Town dislike him for some reasons. He runs the Seaside Shack on the beach. After Kai and Popuri marry, the two will leave the Mineral Town and only come back in Summer.
 * Rick is the over-protective brother of Popuri who hates Kai. He works at the Poultry Farm with his sister and ill mother Lillia. Rick dislikes his father Rod for leaving his family behind to cure to Lillia's illness. He is a hard worker and also an animal lover, as such will be your rival for Karen's affection.

Connecting to Other Games
The game offers connectivity with the Nintendo Gamecube game Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. To connect with the GameCube game, the player must throw an offering (virtually any throwable item) into the Harvest Goddess' pool in Friends of Mineral Town. Once connected, entries will be added to the library with details about the characters in A Wonderful Life. Additionally, certain characters will talk about ones in Forget-Me-Not Valley. If Pete connects enough, he will be rewarded with the seaside cottage.

When Friends of Mineral Town is linked to Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, via a GCN/GBA Link Cable (sold separately from the two games), Van and Ruby will come to the game.

Trivia

 * If the player places golden lumber in their field, villagers will come every morning to insult and call them "Moneybags" (Greedy Witch if it's Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town).
 * If you turn on the TV on Friday the 13th, there will be no news. This probably refers to the American superstition of 13 being an unlucky number, and of Friday falling on the 13th of a given month especially so.
 * When you talk to her on a rainy day if you marry Karen, she'll say something like "What a beautiful sunny day!"
 * When it is snowing outside and you talk to Harris when he is on patrol, he will say something like, "I hate it when it rains!"
 * The heart event song in this game is based on the classical music song Liebestraum, a song often played in weddings on the piano in the 16th-18th century. It has a more modern twist.
 * If you talk to Carter about the job when Duke asks for help on the event of "Fall Grape Harvest", what he says to you will be in German.
 * If you speak to Rick in the Poultry Farm when his friendship is high enough, he will speak in German.
 * If you stay up to look at the moon with your spouse during the Starry Night Festival, it will say "Stayed up late... not good for my skin."
 * When Rick says "Lately, I've realized how important Karen is to me." and "But don't you dare tell her I said that! I'd be so embarrassed!", he will say the same thing but in Japanese if you talk to him in the Poultry Farm building.
 * After talking to Zack a few times when he picks up your shipment, he will speak Japanese.
 * There are known to be a lot of spelling errors throughout the game with the English translation:
 * The sofa in the hospital is spelled sopha instead of sofa.
 * The sign outside the hospital says hospitel instead of hospital.
 * When you marry Karen and the baby is born, she will say "The baby keeps crying at night, I can't get enught sleep", instead of "I can't get enough sleep".
 * While interacting with the stone if Pete goes to Goddess Lake, it says "Huge stone. Your hammer is level 5, but it can't crush this sone" Instead of stone.
 * Upon buying animal fodder from Yodel farm, Barley says "I'll put the Chicken Feed..." instead of "Animal Fodder".
 * When Pete first meets Karen, she will say "Hi, what's you name? Im Karen." instead of "Hi, what's your name? I'm Karen."
 * If Pete talks to Manna while she is heading to the Rose Square, she will say "Hi [Player], how are you dong?" instead of "Hi [Player], how are you doing?
 * When you have flour in your inventory, it is written "flower" instead of "flour".
 * When Zack asks if you will compete the Beach Day Frisbee Tournament, he says: "I cam to invite you and your dog" instead of "I came to invite you and your dog."
 * When you make stir fry, it says "Healthy veggy stir fry" instead of "Healthy veggie stir fry".
 * There is a random space in the description of a rice cake. It says: "Eaten on New Years' Day."
 * Whenever you catch a Pirate treasure, the "Y" in the message ".ou have caught a pirate fortune" was accidentally replaced with a period.