Harvest Moon: A New Beginning is possibly the most under-appreciated video game of all time. Why? Well, simple: this game prepares you for life and all of its challenges, all in the convenience of a Nintendo DS system.

Harvest Moon, for the obviously uncultured folks who have yet to encounter such a magnificent game, is a farm-life simulation game series. Though I will be discussing A New Beginning as a reference point, just know that there are valuable life lessons in every game in the series.

Let’s start with the obvious: A New Beginning teaches you how to run your own farm. This is a handy skill for any student because the job market for college students has been low for years. This game teaches you the importance of the four seasons and how to grow crops that pertain to each one. You also learn that it takes immense effort to run a farm, as your stamina hearts will decrease by about 33% after you’ve gone around watering your crops.

Because you learn how to run a farm, crops are not all you now possess complete knowledge of. Now, you are probably also fit to care for cows and chickens! If you advance enough in the game (or in life), other animals will become available to you. The main takeaway is that literally anyone can own a cow, which is nice because you can literally push a cow anywhere you want it to go. They’re probably heavy, but if your character in the game can do it, why can’t you?

The most valuable lesson of all in A New Beginning is that of friendship and love. To make friends, you have to give people in your village gifts—lots and lots of gifts. The more gifts you give them, the more they’ll like you and talk to you. The game also warns you that people run out of things to talk about once you get to know them. In terms of love, you can assume that every good-looking youthful character is single and ready to mingle (with the opposite sex, of course), so that’s probably true of real life. You’ll also learn it’s important to stalk your love interest on gaming guides (aka social media) to find out exactly how to win their heart with gifts and saying exactly the right thing.

These are just some of the wonderful life lessons that Harvest Moon: A New Beginning offers its players. I’d highly recommend getting addicted to this game. You’ll learn about life, but even more so about your true self.***

***For example, I’ve learned that I love harvesting crops when I don’t have to get my real hands dirty, and that I love yelling at in-game characters to get a life when I know fully well that they can’t hear my real voice.