Kickstarter - Fields of Fresh
 

This one is from left-field but who knows what people might like? Nathan writes in with his Kickstarter for a farming RPG called Fields of Fresh. They are only asking for $1000 and here's the intro:
More information.

Farming?

Um… That's a Farmville or what?

My bonus from work is gradually being eaten up by all these gaming developers I want to help out via Kickstarter. It's really not the type of game I would play but it is an earnest effort and they ain't asking for much so thanks for the heads up.

lucky you, in my 20 year working history the biggest bonus I've ever received was $300, and in the last 7 or 8 years it's just been a $50 gift card for Applebees

He makes a reference to a farming sim on the SNES called Harvest Moon, which was received rather well in 1996. I never tried it or anything, but I'm guessing there's a lot more to a game like that than FarmVille…

This is cool. They're the origin of Rune Factory, which is the more-traditional-RPG version of the same game. There have been a ton of variations, but HM is not usually an RPG in the sense of building a character's stats, more of playing a role in a slightly reactive town. The tricky part will be outdoing RF. Of course a throwback to Harvest Moon is nice, too, but the games are so well-explored (some might say over-released), you really have to bring a lot of customization to make it fresh. HM is the granddaddy of a whole bunch of subgenres, in a way. Social farming games, dating sims, and cheerful town simulators like Animal Crossing share a lot of the style as well. Thanks for the link.

Persistence would be more accurate. 30 years on my current job, and 8 on my prior.