Cosy management sim games are becoming more and more popular. And why not the real world is hard. If you get lost in the worlds of Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley then you’re going to love Story of Seasons‘ next new instalment – Pioneers of Olive Town.

I won’t waste your time with an introduction to the game because we’ve written it all down here. And if you’ve played any sort of farming sim you’ll find a lot of familiarity with the game. Pioneers of Olive Town however does try to mix it up with some new game mechanics. Such as taming animals, more crafting town quests, makers and more.

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town (ENG) came out on March 23rd on the Nintendo Switch. Here’s everything to get you started!

 

Spend The First Day Gathering Resources

You won’t get any farming equipment on your first day in Olive Town instead the Mayor will gift you with the Axe, Hammer and Sickle. So use the first day as an opportunity to explore and gather resources. Namely Lumber, Stone and Ore.

With the tools the mayor gives you focus on using the Axe to chop trees for lumber. Ore can be found in the mines, northwest of your farm. Use your Hammer on the rocks to gather ore and uncover the ladder to climb further into the mine. You won’t need so much grass at this time but you will need some to fix your chicken coop so use your Sickle to get that.

The next day the Mayor will come by to give you the Hoe and Watering Can so you can begin farming.

 

Fix Your Chicken Coop ASAP

You can have a ready to use Chicken Coop by Day 1 of the game. On the first day be sure to gather x20 Lumber, x20 Stone, x30 Grass to fix the broken Chicken Coop located West of your farm. You’ll be able to use the coop immediately after you repair it so make sure to do that ASAP.

Once the Coop is fixed you can keep your chickens in there! Chickens will lay one egg a day if they’re fed which is a really useful money maker early on. To feed them you can tap the bell to let them out in good weather or put grass in the Coop.

in Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town instead of buying animals you can tame them. All you need to do is get near them and Press A. Then, choose to move the animal to a barn or coop & give it a name. Your animal will then be considered tame and won’t run away from the farm.

 

Get Tools From The Townspeople

The next couple of tools you’ll get in Pioneers of Olive Town won’t come from the Mayor but from the townspeople themselves. So when you have the time remember to head over to these guys to grab some tools. Your first visit should be to Marcos’ House the resident fisherman family where you’ll get a Fishing Rod. The next if you visit the Museum will get a Camera from Gloria.

Lastly, this will come later when you expand your home. Patricia at the animal store will give you a Leash for you to be able to walk your pet.

 

Upgrade Crop Quality For Bigger Returns

You can increase your crop quality by processing your crops with a Seed Maker, then growing a new batch with said seeds. This should vastly improve your returns on your farm.

For example 2 star Green Pepper will net your 145G but 3 stars will get your 154G.

Additionally, you can raise your Farm’s productivity at the Shrine if you’ve met the specific requirements. An upgraded farm has the chance to get 3-star crops even from 0 quality seeds. So aim to upgrade your farm fast for more efficient yields.

 

Maker Machines Are Key To Pioneers At Olive Town

If you’ve played My Time at Portia you’ll be no stranger to refinement machines, but this is a fairly new concept for the Story of Seasons games. Makers similar to the Yarn or Moyannaise Maker in the previous Friends of Mineral Town game refind basic materials into more expensive materials. But in this case, you’ll be utilising these refined materials a lot more.

There are 22 different Makers so far in Pioneers of Olive Town. You’ll eventually get them all but the ones you need to focus on in the beginning would be the Lumber, Ingot and Seed Makers. Keep an eye out for the Jewerly one as well to farm gold in the late game stage.

The Lumber and Ingot Maker will process items that are essential for your progression. You’ll be able to unlock them when your logging and mining both reach Level 2. 1 Maker will produce 1 item at a time so you’ll probably want multiple machines running concurrently. Aim to eventually have at least 10 Wood Makers and 5 Ingot Makers on your farm.

 

Craft Item Chests For Storage

Inventory management is always a bit of a pain with sim games. You can buy bag upgrades at Clemens’ shop (3000G) but the maximum rucksack size is still only 32 slots. You’ll find as well that items of different star rank do not stack making harvest time a little more challenging.

Make sure to store items in Item Chests to free up inventory space. Wooden & Stone boxes can be crafted relatively easily when starting, with each limited to 32 items so make a few to clear up clutter.

 

Fix The Bridge To Increase The Size Of Your Farm

Southwest of your farm is a bridge that needs fixing. Clean it up with x15 Wood to unlock a brand new area as well as the Animal House and Mushroom Wood. There is an option to fix the bridge with 5000 Gold but you should probably save that money and gather the wood yourself.

 

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is one of our top 10 farming sim games. If you want to check out more games like this be sure to check out our list here. As well as our other Story of Seasons guides over here!