Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town brings back plenty of features from the original, and that includes Van, the traveling merchant. How you finally get Van to come to town is a bit different in this version, though, and he’s peddling some rather different cargo this time as well: pets.
Our SoS: Friends of Mineral Town pets guide breaks down how to get Van to town and what you need to do to buy pets.
Friends of Mineral Town: How to Get Van to Show Up
You won’t get any pets without getting Van to come around first. To do that, visit the Harvest Goddess’ pond outside the mine. Then offer a gift she likes or loves once per day, 30 times. She’ll give you White Grass in return.
After that, Van shows up to your farm on a sunny Wednesday. If you’re doing this in Spring or Summer, a sunny Wednesday won’t be too hard to come by.
But if you want to make sure the sun is out that day, you can try to get a weather reroll by saving on the 13th, then checking the weather the next day. Continue doing that until you get a sunny day.
Keep that trick in mind for after Van arrives as well. He stays at the Inn where you can buy a variety of goods every Wednesday. But he only opens his pet stall in the Town Square on the 15th of every month from noon until 5:30 p.m. — and only if it’s sunny.
So if you’re dead set on buying pets, you’ll want to have some control over the weather.
Finally, note that even if you start chucking Goddess presents into the pond from the very beginning, you still won’t have a pet in time for the first Summer Frisbee Festival, since Van only sells pets on the 15th.
Friends of Mineral Town Pets
Here are all the Friends of Mineral Town pets you can get from Van. One thing to keep in mind is that these are basically just for the Frisbee Festival and just to have.
Farm animals automatically go back indoors at 8 p.m. every night, so you don’t actually need them for any practical purpose.
Van sells different pet types depending on the season.
Friends of Mineral Town Pets: Spring
- Shorthaired Cat — 20,000 G
- Bengal Cat — 20,000 G
- Calico Cat — 20,000 G
Friends of Mineral Town Pets: Summer
- Penguin — 30,000 G
- Navy Penguin — 30,000 G
Friends of Mineral Town Pets: Fall
- Mineral Dog — 10,000 G
- Papillon — 20,000 G
- Husky — 20,000
Friends of Mineral Town Pets: Winter
- Capybara — 30,000 G
- White Capybara — 30,000 G
You’ll need to do some work if you want more than one pet as well. After your first, Van won’t sell you another one until you’ve reached eight hearts on that pet’s affection meter.
Alongside interacting with your pet, you can raise their affection by feeding them Pet Treats, which Van also sells.
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That’s it for our SoS: Friends of Mineral Town pets guide, but check out our other Friends of Mineral Town guides as well to help smooth out your days on the farm.
