Prune
Year: 2015
Rating: E
Time Played: ~4 hours
When I picked up a few months of Apple Arcade for free, I downloaded a handful of games to play on my phone. Prune was one that looked soothing, like Monument Valley. It also looked short, which I could appreciate. Once I got into it, I wished it was perhaps even a little shorter. The concept was solid, but the way it was executed on the touchscreen of my phone made me wanting more control over different aspects. If I wanted to play longer and complete the rest of the secret levels, I could…I just didn’t want to.
The objective of Prune is to let a tree grow until it flowers. This requires trimming off branches and limbs as it grows, allowing it to get around corners and eventually find life-giving sunlight to bloom. The almost random way these trees would grow was one of my frustrations with the game. I had to re-start so many trees because they wouldn’t go where I wanted them to, even though I trimmed in the right spots. Granted, there wouldn’t be much of a game here if I was successful on the first try every time, for every level.
When I could grow the tree in the direction I wanted, the later levels highlighted the worst aspect about this game. Since the main game mechanic is swiping my finger to cut off branches, it was also difficult to use the touchscreen to move the view around or adjust the zoom. Since the camera always followed the tree as it grew, I’d often try to move the view over to see where it was going and plan accordingly—only for it to snap right back. If the camera controls were better, I’d definitely give this review another star.
A calming idea for a game, but with too many frustrating aspects, I give Prune 3.0 stars out of 5.
