Farming

Farming is a concept explored by video games for different purposes. It is not to be confused with gold farming which is a concept commonly associated with MMORPGs.

While farming elements had appeared in earlier strategy games like Nobunaga's Ambition and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the first farming simulation was Harvest Moon. Since then, the Harvest Moon franchise has become the most commonly known for creating games that put the player primarily into the role of a farmer. Games developed for the series have gained a cult-like status and most commonly are very similar to each other, since the concept of farming is not widely expandable. The main practices presented in the game is the planting, growing and farming of crops or staple crops as well as raising animals for their products, such as milk, eggs and often also fur (although it is important to note that animals can never be slaughtered). Games in the Harvest Moon series therefore play as a life simulator for the farming life, which is not the only way the concept of farming can be employed. Other games use it so that characters can grow and then later on eat their crops to survive, while this is only a secondary objective.

Over the past decade or so, a number of other popular farming simulations have since appeared, including Rune Factory, Animal Crossing, Happy Farm, Farm Town, FarmVille, and Farming Simulator.