Harvest Moon is a farming simulation game with an underlining storyline that add depth to break up the daily monotony of watering crops. In the games, players have the option of getting married, raising livestock and poultry animals, catching fish, and attending festivals to impress the local villagers.

Harvest Moon (Bokujou Monogatari) was first published in Japan in 1996 by Pack In Video; the company, after several mergers, is currently known as Marvelous!. In North America, the game was localized by Natsume, Inc. and first published in 1998. Natsume handled the English localization up until Harvest Moon: A New Beginning. In 2014, Marvelous annnounced that it will be using its own localization company, XSeed Games, to translate Bokujou Monogatari into English and will also be using its own title, Story of Seasons. Natsume still owns the Harvest Moon trademark, and will continue to develop the series independently of Marvelous.

In the PAL region, localization has been handled by Rising Star Games, Marvelous!, and Nintendo of Europe.