Grow a Tree
One seed in the middle of the screen. Drag the sun or a rain cloud into place and simply watch an apple tree grow. No score, no timer. Something to leave open when you want to empty your head.
What it is
Grow a Tree is not a game you win or lose. You sow a seed, drag the sun or a rain cloud left and right across the sky, and watch a tree grow. That is all there is to do.
Rain wets the soil where it falls; wet soil spreads sideways and slowly dries. The roots drink as much as the soil under them holds, so rain right above the plant helps at once while rain far away takes a while to seep across. Sunlight is felt the moment the sun is up — strongly overhead, weakly from the side.
Day and night take turns. At night there is no sun and no cloud, only the moon and the stars; the tree rests and the soil dries. Morning brings back whatever weather you chose.
How it grows
From a dry seed to roots, a seedling breaking the soil, true leaves and side branches, a rounded crown, blossom, and finally fruit ripening red — 108 stages in all. Each stage tells you in one line what is happening to the plant, so you learn how a tree grows just by watching.
Every seed makes a different tree. Branch count, height, leaf colour and the shape of the crown come from the seed number, so the same number grows the same tree again.
Who it is for
- Anyone who wants to switch off but finds doing nothing awkward
- Anyone tired of games that never stop rushing
- Anyone who finds it calming to watch something grow in their place
- Children and adults curious about how plants grow
Where it stands
This game is still being built. Right now there is one apple tree and one round. More plants and a field come after this tree has been grown enough times.