The player assumes the role of an elementary school boy who is staying at his grandfather's home in Kuzunoki village located in the countryside over summer vacation. He befriends a young girl living in the village, and goes through several mystical adventures over the course of the summer. The graphics are old-fashioned, and there is a distinctly pastoral scheme set throughout the game.

The game system is very similar to that of Heisei Shin Onigashima, where action and puzzle mini-games are mixed into an overall command-style adventure. The player chooses the character's actions from a command menu, and some commands must be selected within a certain time limit.

Little boy

The main character of the game who the player names at the beginning of the game. He is an elementary school student, and is visiting his grandfather who lives in Kuzunoki village over summer vacation.

Little girl

A girl with purple hair wearing a purple yukata. She was the first person that the main character met when he arrived at the village. She speaks in an old-fashioned manner uncharacteristic for her age.

Grandfather

The main character's grandfather. He is a monk at a temple in Kuzunoki village.

The game was supposed to be the first of the Famicom Bunko series, but the limited availability of the Nintendo Power system resulted in poor sales, and Hajimari no Mori ended up being the only game of the series. The game cartridge itself has become increasingly difficult to obtain, but it was released on the Virtual Console in 2007.

• Shin Onigashima
• Yūyūki
• Time Twist: Rekishi no Katasumi de...