• Interview
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Shacknews E5 - Pokemon Meets Stardew Valley in Monster Harvest

Check out this exclusive chat with the Lead Designer of Monster Harvest from E5 2021.

Donovan Erskine

June 18, 2021 11:00 AM

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One of the really fascinating upcoming indie releases is Monster Harvest. Developed by Maple Powered Games, this game is best pitched as Pokemon meets Stardew Valley. Players manage a farm and grow crops, but can also create and befriend powerful creatures that will defend them in battles. We got to sit down and talk with the Lead Designer on Monster Harvest about their work on the game and how the idea came to be as a part of our E5 celebration.

The Monster Harvest interview debuted during Shacknews E5 2021, but is now viewable using the video embed below. During the interview, we chatted with Lead Designer Kerry Vandenberg, talking about how Monster Harvest came to be, as well as the developer’s goals for the game. Monster Harvest is set to hit full release in just a month, but is currently in Early Access.

It’s clear to see the influence of games like Stardew Valley and Pokemon in Monster Harvest. The simple premise of taking over a relative’s farm, bringing it back to glory and growing a variety of crops for profit is straight out of the ConcernedApe playbook. However it’s the Pokemon twist that really sets the game apart. Players can take their plants and mutate them, creating Planimals, living creatures that will fight on your behalf. These creatures can level up and learn new moves, and are a major part of the core gameplay in Monster Harvest.

Monster Harvest seems like a fascinating experiment, as we covered in our hands-on preview of the game. This interview was done as a part of Shacknews E5 2021, our ongoing celebration of the brilliant minds that make up the gaming world. For more exclusive content, be sure to not only follow us on Twitch, but subscribe to Shacknews and GamerHubTV on YouTube as well.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_