Prune

Joel McDonald

About this game

Prune is a love letter to trees. A game about the beauty and joy of cultivation.

With a swipe of a finger, grow and shape your tree into the sunlight while avoiding the dangers of a hostile world. Bring life to a forgotten landscape, and uncover a story hidden deep beneath the soil.

• A unique digital plant for your pocket
• Beautiful, minimalist art and a super clean interface—it's just you and the trees
• Meditative music and sound design for you to zen out to
• No filler - 48 carefully chosen levels
• No IAP, no monetization strategy, no currencies
• Share screenshots of your unique tree creations with friends

Originally based on an experimental tree generation script, Joel McDonald carefully crafted Prune to perfection over the course of a year. Kyle Preston joined in to add his unique musical signature and sound effects.

----- RECEPTION -----

"Wildly creative, totally addictive, and oddly soothing" - Entertainment Weekly

"Breathtakingly beautiful design and gameplay work together perfectly for a tranquil, touching experience." - 4.5/5 Gamezebo

"Prune is an awe-inspiring work of digital poetry that transcends its initial subject material to explore a much larger, much more complex theme, in an articulate and powerfully moving manner." - 10/10 Pocket Gamer

"A collaboration that feels more like a dance than puzzle-solving." - Kill Screen

Ratings and reviews

A very interesting, clever puzzle game with what may be a unique approach. On the other hand, the tutorial level doesn't mention all the controls, so I stumbled onto two-finger gestures to zoom and moved on accident. Further, the nature of levels never really going the same way twice means I get stuck on a level, but then suddenly pass it without knowing what I did differently, or exactly what action led to what outcome. It's a very clever game, but needs to make itself clearer to the player.

This game is fantastic. It's very unique and I enjoyed my time with it a lot. The reason for my score is that this is a game with a lot of serious technical problems. For whatever reason the game cannot achieve full screen. Certain in game effects cause for my phone's dashboard to bleed through. It's very strange, I can see app icons when dust effects sweep across the screen. The game's camera is slow and struggles to keep up on faster paced stages. Good game but too buggy.

EDIT: Almost a year later, I've redownloaded Prune several times. It's so satisfying, and no level is ever exactly the same. I wish there was another game out there that was even remotely like it. ORIGINAL: Both calming and frustrating. At first I thought I hated it, but I found myself coming back to try just one more time. My only complaint is that it was too short! But lots of replayability, so I'm not too upset.

What’s new

12 challenging new levels for you to explore and perfect! You'll see the bonus chapter in the main menu upon completing the normal game.

Thank you for playing Prune and please let me know if you have any feedback or issues at [e-mail].