[dropcap]R[/dropcap]eleased on 21/02/18, Gleaner heights is a challenging yet charming Harvest Moon and Twin peaks inspired farming simulation game. Evoking a 90’s themed character art style and sharing similarities with SNES and Gameboy versions of Harvest Moon, the game is certainly nostalgic. That being said, it is also current and relevant, allowing players to have dyed hair and to be gay and bisexual.

The game has been likened to Stardew Valley, with many criticising the developer of copying Stardew Valley’s mining and character customisation features. However, the game has been in development since before the publication of Stardew Valley, and the developer claims to have purposely avoided playing Stardew Valley as to not copy from the popular game.

The game includes the elements of traditional farming games such as animal care and husbandry, crop growing, relationships with townsfolk etc.

Additionally, it caters for gamers who like a good mystery with a town full of:

– Residents living double lives. You can choose to help or sabotage their plottings and betrayals.

– Spooky happenings. Unravel the town’s supernatural history, from it’s founding, right up to present day.

– Mysterious powerful creatures that appear to be guarding lost treasures.

Gleaner Heights Main Features Include:

-Play as a male or female character.

-Over 30 villagers with their own schedules, habits, likes and dislikes.

-Extended farming mechanics with over 40 different crops.

-Animals like chickens and cows, as well as a horse. Extended sub-mechanics include growing mushrooms in a mysterious cave, or breeding silkworms.

-Extended crafting system with lots of recipes, from fences to explosive arrows to cheese makers.

-Cooking with over 110 recipes.

-Complete town upgrade projects. Have your very own boat and explore the river and waterfall, and even explore underwater with your diving suit!

-Romantic interests and marriage.

-Day/night cycle, seasons, and weather system.

-Skills, perks and equipment (clothing) with set bonuses.

-Tool upgrades and mining.

-Fishing! Over 40 fishes populate various water bodies around the town and in underground lakes.

-Town events and festivals.

-Main plot with different “endings”.

-Explore and discover hidden areas and dungeons.

-Surprisingly fluid combat for a game of this genre, with players being able to charge ther tool attacks while moving, roll, dash, perform power attacks etc.

-Multi-language support (in progress).

-Gamepad/mouse support.

The game’s standard cost is $9.99 (£7.19), but it is currently on sale at $8.99 (£6.47).

For more farming games check out the upcoming Ooblets game, it features gardening and a crafting system as well, you can check it out here. We also can’t stop playing Lullaby Gardens in which you can roam a huge area to build, craft, farm and more. Yonder The Cloud Catcher Chronicles, in which players can farm, fish, explore, build relationships and more has recently been announced for Switch.

The latest Harvest Moon Lights of Hope on Nintendo Switch, PC, and Playstation 4 comes with an adorable pre-order bonus, have you seen it yet?