Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns is a fantasy farming simulation game integrated with social aspects such as friendship and marriage. Players are tasked with managing their own farm, taking care of animals as well as growing crops successfully to sell for profit. Fishing, foraging, and part-time jobs help to supplement the player's income, which is then used to buy more crop seeds, materials, and livestock animals.

In this entry to the popular Bokujou Monogatari series, your character has a dream since childhood of managing your own farm. Unfortunately, your father's job means you frequently move from town to town, never giving you a good shot at learning about ranching. As the game begins, there is yet another family move on the horizon, but this time you decide to move forward with your desire instead of following along with your father, mother, and little sister. Your father is reluctant to let you go out on your own because of your inexperience with farming, but with some convincing persuasion on your part, he decides to allow you to move a homestead located near your Uncle Frank's farm. Your uncle runs his own farm in Westown and is willing to teach you how to manage your own ranch. As your family moves to the next town, you split from them and move to be near your uncle to follow your childhood dream.

Your goal in this video game is to convince your father that your dream is the correct career path for you to follow. That won't be your only chore though there are three villages near your homestead that need some help! Each of these villages have distinct cultures for you to experience, and in turn, you can take village specialities and incorporate them into your ranch.

This game will play on either the normal Nintendo 3DS or the NEW Nintendo 3DS. There are not any in-game enhancements that are specific to the upgraded 3DS console. It does support 3D display on the console top screen, but is utilized just for dialog boxes, stamina levels, and environmental flair such as fluttering leaves or falling snowflakes.

At the beginning of the game you will select your gender, default clothing outfit, hair and eye color, and facial style. You will also select a personality type, which will give you a slight boost to certain aspects. Your selected personality type cannot be changed unless you start a new game. Another selection choice is the difficulty level you wish to play as, either an easier Seedling Mode or a more-challenging Veteran mode.

• A variety of festivals that are unique to each of the three towns.
• New livestock animals, the quail (eggs) and the buffalo (milk).
• The return of the shipping bin and the ability to ship your products to specific towns.
• Harvest wild-grown products such as Avocado, Lupine, Vanilla, and Mugwort.
• Livestock barns include built-in fences, holding either 1 animal or up to 4 animals.
• Have a special Furmiliar pet that allows you to talk to other villager's pets and the wild animals.
• New species of pets available: choose from 16 dogs, 10 cats, and 2 capybara.
• Crops now have 4 qualities besides Star Rank: color, scent, juicy, and size.
• Work part-time jobs for people in the villages.
• Meet up with a traveling bard to watch picture shows.
• Increase the Town Rank of each village to unlock new features and crops.
• Build and place Farm Circle objects on your farm to trigger special effects.
• Complete farming tips to impress your father and gain his approval of your dream.
• Remodel your tools to control their individual weight, range, volume, and color.
• Add toppings to the food you cook using your kitchen.
• Meals from restaurants and kitchen can add temporary bonus affects to the protagonist.
• Connect with other players on Connection Island to chat, go fishing, and trade items.
• Weather patterns will vary from your farm and the three villages.