This post is a selective survey of some of the use of fruit in contemporary computer games. This provides a window into one arena of fruit-inspired creativity. For completeness, this post incorporates material from the post of 11 Sep 2015 in the discussion of the first game below; the remainder of this post is new.
The name of each game is in boldface and a description of the game is quoted from the referenced website. If I was able to play a game, I summarize my experience.
Amazing Fruit Explorer
Description: "Travel along with the Magic Fruits to Five different Worlds: Fruits, Diamond, Bubble, Gem and Birds, to explore different wonders and secrets of each world. Along the way you can experience one of the most addictive game play ever created. Once you start the journey you can't stop until you explore all the places in the maps."
I couldn't play this game since it requires an iPhone.
Orange Bubbles
Description: "Shoot the bubbles and combine at least 3 of the same color to remove them from the field. Drop the oranges to complete a level. How many fruits can you harvest?"
I played this game but could not figure it out; the second picture shows me being unable to defend the orange in the upper left. This game needs better instructions. I do not plan to play this game again.
Save Fruit Doll
Description: "Your goal is to rescue the lovely fruit dolls."
I didn't try to play this game since it required me to install something.
Fruit Chef
Description: "Fruit Chef is a classic arcade game. You're the best chef in the world but someone has decided to challenge your skills. They decide to throw fruits up for you to see if you can slice them cleanly before they hit the floor. Slice fruits by swiping from the bottom and up. Avoid bad objects. Upgrade your knife to increase your performance. When you are skilled, you will get special orders. Enjoy Fruit Chef."
You cut a fruit in two by manipulating your mouse or other pointing device so that you move the pointer over the flying fruit. When I tried to play this game, I was repeatedly thrown into another game where I was required to defend a castle. It's a mystery to me why they kept trying to make me play the castle game. After overcoming my first challenge of avoiding this castle game, I eventually got to the point where I could play Fruit Chef. The second picture below is a screenshot taken right after I successfully sliced a pear. I found that my trackball was well adapted to this game. (Trackballs are popular among air traffic controllers.) The problem is that I did not perceive what was fun about this game, so I did not find it rewarding. I do not plan to play this game again.
Fruit Scoot
Description: "Join Dan and Penelope on their mission to rescue the animals of this fruity kingdom. Hop on the smoothie van and Fruit Scoot your way through hundreds of levels in this delicious new puzzler adventure. Swipe, match, and blend fresh fruit pieces to produce juicy fruit smoothies and help the animals discover a healthier and nutritious alternative to cookies and candies!"
I didn't try to play this game since it required me to install something.
A video simultaneously teaches kids about fruit and how to rhyme. Strictly speaking, this is not a game, but it is for kids. I only watched the first two minutes of this monster 73 minute video. (I did flip ahead to sample it to make sure that it is all about fruit. At 36:32 it exhorts kids to save orange peels to use in cosmetics. I guess a video this long can get into real depth and teach kids skills that will come in useful in later life.) In each picture below, at the top is the line currently being recited, where the portion that has already been uttered in in green. My assessment is that this video is suitable for the age range 3 to 4 years. My conjecture is that this video was produced in India. I do not plan to watch it again.
Gift Idea
The common features of these games are:
- They are free.
- The are the equivalent of empty calories since they are a stultifying and pointless waste of time.
The gift idea is that these games are the answer to the question: What gift should I give to an enemy?
Final Thought
It is discouraging that computer games tend to see everything, even fruit, within a context of violence.
