BonsaiDefense 1.0

Bonsai Defense is a free great-looking strategy game. It was developed using the Unity3 engine and it is available both for the Mac and Windows. To be honest, I am not sure on how to define what kind of game this is, because it incorporates elements from different genres. It does play a lot like a tower defense game, but not in the conventional way. You basically have control of a tree, which grows from its roots when the level starts. Along its branches, the tree will produce fruits. You can control what kind of fruit grows in each one of the available fruit slots. Your tree will be attacked after a while by enemies. They will infect and feed upon the tree. Your line of defense are the fruits. Some fruits attack enemies, while other replenish the health of the tree. Some even provide the energy for the tree to be able to fight off infection. There are two key fruits: the first one makes your tree grow extra branches and, the second one cuts infected branches to prevent further infection.

There is a very detailed tutorial that explains how the game is played. It is not short, but it is very important that you play it. You will be lost without it.

The graphics are absolutely gorgeous. You can zoom and pan around the tree using your mouse to focus on areas where an attack is going on. There are keyboard controls as well, but I found the mouse controls easier to use.

In short, although this is a quite complicated game, it can prove challenging and very fun to play. It is one of the most original games I have played lately.