At the start of the game, the player creates his character, owns a piece of land in Pelican Town, and the small house his grandfather once owned. The player can choose from several different farm map types, each with its advantages and disadvantages. The farmland is initially overwhelmed by boulders, trees, stumps and weeds and the player must work to clear them in order to reuse the farm, grow crops and livestock to generate income and further expand the farm buildings and equipment.

Players can also interact with non-player characters (NPCs) who live in the town, including interacting with these characters and getting married, after which the NPCs will help the player look after the farm. Players can also engage in fishing, cooking and crafting, and can explore procedurally generated caves to mine minerals or fight in-game monsters. Players can perform various tasks to earn more money.

Characters have fatigue levels and health bars. If the player becomes exhausted anywhere outside the house, the player pays up to 10% of the 1000 grams of gold and returns to the house the next morning and regains his strength and may not continue the activity. If a player loses too much health, they lose most of their energy as well as a random amount of money and items. The game uses a simplified calendar with only four months per year, representing the four seasons, and the months determine which crops can be grown and which activities can bring benefits. Later in the game, players can create greenhouses to grow any crop regardless of the current season.