The player's grandfather visits as a spirit — he has just died — and asks them to take over his farm and become a Ranch Master, the kind of farmer he always hoped the family would produce. He will check at the end of each winter to assess progress. If the farm meets his criteria, additional tools are awarded; if it does not, the game ends. The tools of the trade are growing and selling crops, and raising livestock. Before any of this begins, the player chooses whether to play as a boy or a girl and gives themselves a name.