vBonsai

vBonsai is a tree simulator. As with other simulation games, the goal of the game is left up to the player. Keeping your tree alive is a requirement but your secondary goal is your choice. This can be shaping the tree to your whim, obtaining the highest score, or just keeping it alive as long as you can.

The game's year starts at 1610AD as it is thought that the oldest living Bonsai tree known was under cultivation no later that that year. It is believed that the Sandai Shogun No Mastu, part of the Japanese Imperial collection, is the oldest living Bonsai.

Can you keep your tree alive until present day?

Game Play

This is the TOOL button. Once a lock is established on a cell of your tree, you can actuate the tool indicated in the picture.

This is the SCHEDULE button. It will show a menu there the frequency of watering and fertilizer application can be set as well as how long the tree will age when you tap the GO button. This menu will disappear after a few seconds by itself.

This is the GO button. Your tree will grow when you tap GO. How long it will grow per tap is set in the menu accessed by the SCHEDULE button.

This is the GAUGE. It indicates the status of the tree. S for STRESS, W for WATER, F for FERTILIZER.

STRESS goes down as the tree grows unhindered and up as it is trimmed or shaped. The STRESS at the mid-line of the GAUGE causes the tree to grow the most. WATER usage is based on the size of the tree and the season. More heat in the summer means more evaporation. Control moisture with the WATER frequency in the SCHEDULE menu. Too much or too little WATER hurts the tree. Marks on the W portion of the GAUGE indicate levels to avoid. Maximum growth occurs when the F GAUGE is maxed but anything higher than 75% burns the tree. So it will vary efficiently grow dead foliage thereby effecting the over all health of the tree.

This is the POINTER. Use the tip of it to select branches for pruning or shaping. When the tip is close to a cell of the tree, the POINTER will establish a lock on the cell indicated by a small RED circle and the TOOL button will turn GREEN. Tap the TOOL button for effect.

Tips

Dead foliage must be trimmed off before they will grow again. Dead foliage that is allowed to stay on the tree damages the health of the tree.

Trees that don't have enough foliage will die.

The larger the tree, the more WATER and FERTILIZER is required to keep it alive. Trim the tree to manage intake of those resources.

A double tap on the TOOL button that indicates the SNIPS will stop that branch from growing back. Trim it back a little further with one tap to get it the grow again.

Be sure your GAUGEs are stable before you allow the tree to grow for a decade at a time. If you accidentally tapped GO and the tree is growing a whole decade out of control, quickly tap the SCHEDULE button and change the time to grow to a month and the growing till stop.

If your tree mysteriously starts to die when the GAUGE shows levels within normal parameters, then it is too big. The tree is planted in a pot that can only support small trees. In real bonsai care, this would mean the pot is rootbound and you would trim the roots. In this game, you just need to trim the branches and keep your tree small.