Watering can

A vital farming tool in the Harvest Moon series and a plant-growing power-up in the Alfred Chicken platformers.

Action

Games

1993–2000

Years

Platforms

About

In the Harvest Moon franchise, including the 1999 and 2000 releases, the watering can is an essential tool used daily to irrigate crops to ensure their growth. In Alfred Chicken (1993) and Super Alfred Chicken (1994), the watering can is collected by the protagonist to water empty flowerpots, which then grow into platforms or release stage-clearing balloons.

Within the Harvest Moon series, the item's functionality is tied directly to resource management and progression systems. In Harvest Moon (1999) and Harvest Moon: Back to Nature (2000), the tool possesses a limited water capacity, requiring players to refill it at nearby ponds, wells, or rivers. To improve efficiency, players can upgrade the watering can at the local blacksmith using accumulated experience and specific ores, such as copper, silver, gold, and mystrile. These upgrades expand the tool's area of effect from a single tile to larger grids, significantly reducing the time and stamina required for farm maintenance.

Conversely, in the platforming titles Alfred Chicken (1993) and Super Alfred Chicken (1994), the watering can acts as a level-specific key rather than a persistent inventory item. Finding and transporting the can requires navigating complex environmental hazards and enemies. Its placement by the game designers serves to guide the player's exploration path through the vertical stages, making the item central to the games' puzzle-platforming design.