Last updated on January 15th, 2026 at 02:45 am
Prune – Entertainment Game Review
Prune is a Entertainment/Family/Puzzle game from Joel McDonald LLC, first launched in 23rd July 2015.
It’s rated 4+ and currently has 560+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Prune Stand Out
~ Apple Game of the Year 2015 ~
~ TIME Magazine Game of the Year 2015 ~
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 IAP, no monetization strategy, no currencies
• Share screenshots of your unique tree creations with friends
• Synchronize progress across all your devices using iCloud
—– RECEPTION —–
"Unlike anything I've played before… the kind of experience I want to pull out to show my friends." – The Verge
"Wildly creative, totally addictive, and oddly soothing" – Entertainment Weekly
"Prune is a gorgeous and unique experience." – 5/5 TouchArcade
"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
—– AWARDS —–
• Winner – Best Upcoming Game – 11th International Mobile Gaming Awards
• Finalist – IndieCade Festival 2015
• Official Selection – Brazil's FILE Festival
• Runner-Up – IndiePlus "Make Something Great" Contest
• Official Selection – Out of Index Experimental Games Festival
This Entertainment game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Prune is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 7th February 2024
Recent improvements include:
New levels! For the first time, there are 12 new, challenging levels to explore and perfect. You'll see them in the main chapter menu after you've completed the game.
Thanks so much for playing Prune and let me know if you have any issues or feedback at [email protected].
Download & Availability
Prune is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Ive never written a review for a game before, but Im compelled to say- this is such a beautiful game. Its so unique and so well designed. It may not be what youre looking for, but it might be what you needed anyway.
Omg! We have had this on our phone for years and kind of forgot about it but it used to be our go-to for some calming, meditative distractions. Cleared all the levels long ago. Now it is back with the first update in years (5 years). We are so pumped! Thank you for the update to one of our favs! It was worth the wait.
Overall everything is good and fun and enjoyable. It would be great if you add ProMotion support too.
Like lots of other people we love the game. Ive solved it many times and gotten all the blue flowers many times. There isnt anything left for us to learn on this version. Its time for Prune 2.
Digital poetry describes this perfectly. If the title and screenshots grabbed you, youll be satisfied with this work.
We have had this game installed since 2015. This is a true ASMR Type of game very Zen. The stress relief this game imparts is very welcome. Even though we have been through all of the levels countless times we never get tired of the experience. We sure wish more levels, or a similar game could be developed.
This app is more than a mere game its a parallel of life. Nov 2015 thru January 2020 is like when toxic growth happens ends in death of the whole tree. From March 2020 onward, keeping toxic people in ones life brings without pruning them off also brings, stunted growth, destruction & death of the whole tree. ~September 6, 2021.
Its such a great game. Its so scary what we have done and what will happen if we dont stop. That ending though was so beautiful. We love this game so much, 10/10, would and have played again.
We love this game!!! We calmed us down and was very happy, but we need some help. What are the yellow flowers? We have been finding them here and there and we were wondering what they were. Overall it is an amazing app. Thank you.
Ok we love ur game it was so relaxing but…. Ok so we finished the game in 2 1/2 days (with like 30min top each level) so we mean from what we can tell its $4 for 5 worlds and 48 levels. It might seem like a lot but it is NOT AT ALL. When we got to the end we were like oh its a new game. So we checked and it is 6+ years. We love this game but please add worlds 6-10. We know it is a really hard game to code but we mean in five years you should have like 20 worlds. We are not trying to be rude seriously, but please we love this game please make more. Also wile you make more worlds even if ur not make a sandbox mode so u can grow ur tree how u want with no end. Really we would of put 3 1/2 stars but we want people to read this before they spend there money. We love this game and you should 100% get it if you need a game to relax. Thank you for reading.
We read some of the critical reviews and we can understand anyone whos looking for action would be frustrated. For those who dont get it, Im sure theres a YouTube vid available as a walkthrough. Finally, for those who got through it quick, we discovered that there are several possible solution to any level. We enjoyed making many attempts to shape a beautiful tree. Happy with several results and we kept the pics. Its a peaceful meditation and perfect for any window of time.
Love this game! Hoping for a landscape mode so we don't have to hold our iPad constantly while playing., which can sometimes bring us out of a Zen moment. :) we can prop it up in its case, instead.
This game is unlike any other and takes the concept of pruning trees and turning it into something really fun and relaxing. Its great! Only complaint we have is it needs to have more levels. We know it has more then usual puzzle games have but still we feel like it needs more work…its really good though. Recommend it.
A beautiful game that takes our breath away.
We would love to have a zen mode kind of thing. Like a free play maybe with a slower growth speed. We thought the game would be relaxing but Ive had a little difficulty on some levels so far! Very cool though.
Unique, relaxing, challenging. We want more levels. We finished all including blue flowers. Please create more games like this,.
This game is gorgeous. Its somehow an Art app, a game, and a meditation. We wish there were more levels, as we got through them all, but this is one we go back and play over and over.
This masterpiece is a balance between elegance and challenge, without being frustrating. Im not a fan of games that are just challenging for the sake of being challenging. Its hard to put down really because it takes you on a journey. Excellent.
Great game with wonderful design and aesthetics.
Best apple game Ive ever played.
Prune is basically perfect and perfectly simple. You simply prune trees to make them grow. But this beautifully designed game is much more challenging than that. Creativity, quick thinking, and skill are required to navigate around obstacles and reach goals. It is extremely satisfying and the levels are still fun to replay because there are multiple ways to accomplish goals and the resulting tree will always be unique. No ads!! Not even a beg for reviews! One of the best games we've played in a while.
We got this game when it went free to support people in lockdown due to the pandemic. We first just want to stop and point out how generous and kind that was before we even discuss the game. Thank you! On first glance, we were underwhelmed by the game. We thought the pruning concept was too simple and it was a rather boring. However, we are glad to say this was a very, very wrong first take. After sinking some time into this game (we are at the 4th world) we find that the game develops its mechanics in a fashion that feels intuitive to the player without having to say a word, and required us to focus on how to solve each puzzle in its unique fashion. Furthermore, they are able to build on each level while maintaining the black and white serene atmosphere. We are usually someone who always has their phone on silent. But this is a game that needs to be played with sound. The soundtrack is so calming and peaceful, and playing this game with headphones in is a meditative masterpiece.
Love the photo mode, we are still trying to find the perfect picture for our wallpaper.
Dont let the free price tag fool you. This game rivals most paid puzzlers in design and enjoyability.
This game is so simple and beautiful. It left a lasting impression on us.
The design is beautiful, the strategy is relaxing and mindful. Music is perfect. We love this app and we wish it would go on forever. Please create more levels.
This is the most beautiful game we have ever seen. Elegant, haunting, mesmerizing, stylish and addictive. Its amazing how a simple and beautiful design, with such a smooth user interface, can create such an amazing experience. While the game is simple, it feels like it echoes life on such a deeper level. Play this game and you will understand, and youll admire whats been created here. Its short and simple, but very rewarding.
When we first purchased this game, we played it because of the stimulating but relaxing nature of shaping the tree, and we found each new individual level and variable that was introduced fresh and entertaining. However, we played the game rather impatiently without paying much attention to the storyline. At least, this was true at first. As the game progressed, we no longer solely focused on the aspect of passing each level individually, but became enamored with the overall storyline and how it was entirely expressed without words, yet still managed to embody a powerful sentiment regarding human species impact on the world as a whole. We rarely write reviews for anything, but this game struck a very positive chord with us.
We love this game. It is so beautifully constructed!! The only thing that would make us love it more would be more levels.
A solemn beautiful game that manages to tell a story without the use of language. Very relaxing and focusing. We hope the developers create more levels.
This game was worth buying, the music and beautiful nature of the game makes us feel uplifted. We have recently passed the first level and now on to the 2nd level. We were wondering if you could add the flowers of our favorite tree, cherry blossoms (we dont know if you already have them). We could play this late into the night. Its all we can really say, amazing work. Thanks, Dusty the Dingo.
Ive seen positive reviews on this game for a long time. This is one of those games that would never make sense for us, personally, to like it. After playing it for the past two days, it just works. It makes you feel calm and like youre accomplishing something meaningful all at the same time. This game is awesome. Im not sure if it will be the same for everyone, but its definitely worth finding out for how good it feels if this game is for you.
Prune is pleasing and enjoyable. Great graphics and music. But, what is the white tree in game 1 of level 4? We have tried to interact with it and grow a tree towards it but cant determine its purpose.
We love this game! Its very relaxing and well thought. It would be nice if more levels were made too! Overall a very nice and lovely game.
We need more levels!!!!, we love this game so calming and strangely addicting.
Anyone looking for a great game needs to get Prune today! This game captures your attention for hours and has a stunning design. We feel as if we couldnt put Prune down once we began to play it! We also feel as if Prune has opened our eyes to the effects of industrialization on the surrounding environment, from overcoming Prunes life ruining challenges and the beauty of avoiding such challenges to succeed in sustaining life.
Its beautiful and cool… Why are people always looking for something wrong.
We downloaded this little gem when we were stressed and wanted something peaceful to do on our phone. This is it. We found ourselves audibly sighing, smiling, and snapping screenshots of the beautiful trees Id helped flower. Only downside is we couldnt get the sound working :/ – dev help.
Yes it is VERY simple to play but you may find yourself trying to decipher some of the colors and effects of some of the levels. It took us 2 days to make it through the game but now we're going back for blue flowers and to try to reach the sun etc. We would love to see some instructions added. Maybe the option to turn on or off a point system. We like the non complicated nature of it but we don't think it would be diminished with clarification and points. Maybe a second game with different challenges? Would definitely buy a second version guys! If you build it, we will come.
So first of all we love this game but here are some things the creator should add we finished the whole game in about a week(on another device) so they should add some more levels or put a creative mode where you can make your own little map other than that The game is great.
Very fun and visually appealing game, but we wish there were more levels. We beat the whole thing probably in 90 minutes.
We love the game. And paid for it. Done in a few days…. We want more.
We would have given this game 5 stars if it wasnt for that annoying feature. We understand the desire to keep things stylistic since it is a gorgeous game, but gameplay should always be top of mind. There are so many objects to watch out for with foresight that it doesnt make sense that it keeps trying to autozoom in when you need it to do the exact opposite. As our plant grows, we need an increasingly WIDER view. Coupled with having to actively move secondary objects around the screen makes the autozoom an annoying and unnecessary feature. At least give it an on/off switch.
Lovely. It blows our mind how much variation there is in the different levels. We were a little frustrated when we started to play it as we found the beginning too easy, but the second section gratified our wish for a small challenge. Youve taken a tiny idea and expanded it into something amazing. This app is like a poem in the form of a game. Thank you! One more note. We finished the game exceedingly quickly and now Id love some more. Is there a Prune 2 or anything.
Enjoyable, but seems to drop lots of frames and run sluggishly or have choppy animations, even on iPhone 11 Pro.
We like it so far, barely into it. We read a review that said it had sound. We have our volume all the way up but we cant hear anything. We checked our settings but nothing is off. We even closed the app and reopened it to to sound. Otherwise we enjoy the concept and the functionality of the game.
So we used to play this game on, we think, iphone 7 that our friend had. We got the game few days ago and we loved it but we dont really know why but the frame rate is really low as if im playing w an iphone 5. We dont think its our phone bexause we play many other games which require high graphics but arent as slow as this (we use an iphone X).
We started and finished the game in one day. Probably two hours.
These intricate puzzle games are fun and interesting, but this one is limited in levels so we dont think its worth the price they charge for it.
We really enjoy this game and we play a couple of levels every night before we goto sleep. We do wish this game had 60fps support since our iPad Pro is equipped to handle performance like that. We also do notice that there are some choppiness to some of the animations when drawing the tree. If those are fixed, its an easy 5 stars.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.1.6
- Size: 123.41 MB
- iOS: 11.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory:
- Developer: Joel McDonald LLC
Last updated: 7th February 2024 | Genre: Entertainment, Family | Developer: Joel McDonald LLC