In the year 2022 on Heartflame Island, Professor Hope Grant creates a robot boy to live in Volcano Town. He hopes to watch him learn the true value of life by raising crops, raising animals, and interacting with the residents until he matures into an "Innocent Life". The boy has two years to do this. The island also contains an ancient mystery that has sealed away much of the fertile land on the island.
The game bears similarities to Harvest Moon: Save The Homeland due to its time-limit and lack of a marriage system.
Innocent Life was released alongside Rune Factory for the franchise's 10th anniversary. Unlike Rune Factory, it didn't spawn any sequels and remains an obscure title even amongst Harvest Moon fans.
This game contains examples of:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The game takes place in 2022, sixteen years after its actual release date.
- Art Shift: The art style is quite different the normal Harvest Moon style.
- Canon Name: The protagonist's default name is "Life".
- From Stray to Pet: In Special Edition you can befriend a stray cat whose default name is "Cocoa".
- Multiple Endings:
- If you succeed at the game, you're finally accepted into your village.
- If you fail at calming the fire spirits rage, then you'll awaken one day to an earthquake. The volcano explodes, killing everyone but the protagonist. You will however be sent back in time to fix your error.
- After the credits, you are given a task to farm 1000 crops within two years (changed in Special Edition to 5000 within one year) or else your town will be overtaken by aliens.
- Robot Kid: The protagonist is a teenage robot boy.
- Pastoral Science Fiction: You play as a Robot Kid on a small island sixteen years in the future from the game's release date. Your creator has tasked you with running a farm and integrating yourself into the local community so you can learn the true value of life. One of the Multiple Endings involves an Alien Invasion.