Orchard Slice

Orchard Slice is a 3D fruit slicing game set in front of a wooden harvest cart, with rows of round trees, a barn and a fence behind it. Fruit flies up from the cart and you swipe through it to cut it in half, with juice splashing across the boards. Anything that falls back into the grass costs one of your three baskets, and beehives fly up with the fruit and must be left alone.

The campaign has 120 stages across eight orchards: Blossom Meadow, Citrus Grove, Stone-Fruit Hill, Melon Patch, Vineyard Terrace, Tropical Cove, Lantern Night and Frost Cider Mill. Every stage has a goal and a timer. Goals ask for a score, a number of fruit, combos, a certain fruit, golden fruit, no drops at all, or no beehive stings. Meeting the goal earns one star, more points earn the second, and a clean run earns the third. The fifteenth stage of each orchard is a boss: a giant fruit that bounces off the cart and the sky, and every cut chips away at its rind.

Each orchard adds something new. Golden fruit is worth triple points and extra coins. Watermelons and coconuts need several cuts. Frost berries slow everything down for a moment, and a blossom burst slices every fruit in the air. Rotten apples cost 30 points, so let them fall. In Tropical Cove the sea breeze bends every throw, at Lantern Night fruit comes in volleys from both sides, and at the cider mill frozen fruit needs its ice cracked before it can be sliced.

A few tips: cut three or more fruit in one swipe for a combo bonus, especially on combo stages where fruit comes in clusters. A streak of clean slices wins a lost basket back, so steady slicing pays off after a mistake. In boss stages the side fruit is a free bonus and only the hives can hurt you, so keep swiping at the giant and steer around the bees. Watch which way the wind blows before you commit to a long swipe.

Coins buy nine blade trails, from Garden Twine to Starlight. Every orchard you reach becomes scenery you can pick for Endless mode, which gives you three baskets with no refills and speeds up for four minutes before holding at full pace.

Each stage runs on a timer, so a failed attempt is quick to retry. You can play with a mouse, by swiping on a phone or tablet in portrait or landscape, or with the keyboard by moving the blade with the arrow keys and holding Space.

Complete the stage goal and collect up to three stars. Slice three or more fruit in one swipe for a combo bonus. Keep away from the beehives, and watch out for rotten apples.

Coins buy new blade trails. Cleared orchards become scenery for Endless mode, which keeps ramping up until your baskets run out.