I love Harvest Moon games. I started on It's a Wonderful Life for PS2. I have also played Tree of Tranquility on wii, and Rune Factory on DS. Plus I've watched my sis play tons of others. Each game is a little different, but basically your goal is to run a successful farm and get married.

What platform are you looking at? The DS games, IMO, are the cutest. ToT was fun but the wii graphics are way gross. Esp when we got a new hi-def tv. Also, never buy the wii ware Harvest Moon shop game. It's awful.