Games Like Light of Arbor

When you arrive in the Arbor System, the sun has already been devoured by darkness. But you refuse to retreat. Your mission: liberate all four planets, each with its own unique environment and three challenging levels.

Your weapons are trees. Your power is pollen.

Harness the forces of nature to push back the shadows. Each tree offers distinct strategic advantages:

·       The Fruit Tree Easy to spread and rich in light. Its fruits can halt the monsters crawling from the condensed shadows. However, relying solely on this tree demands a high Mana cost.

·       The Mana Tree Grown only by the elusive Arbor Squirrel, which loosely obeys your commands. This tree generates Mana and emits protective light. Fresh saplings energize nearby trees, but harvesting all by yourself may cost you precious time.

·       The Bee Tree Home to the industrious Arbor Bee. These helpful creatures pollinate nearby trees, harvest Mana, and eventually spread their own pollen. Though slow to charge, their release triggers wide-area activation.

·       The Shooting Tree The most difficult to spread, since it grows only from the droppings of the Arbor Bird. Once pollinated, it becomes your only defense against incoming balls of darkness. A formidable weapon when unleashed.

Pollination Cascades

Blooming pollinated trees spread pollen further, creating powerful chain reactions. Plan ahead, position and bloom your trees wisely, before you trigger cascades when the wind blows in the right direction. Cascades save Mana and increase your Pollen Energy, which you need to raise your Pollen Level.

Floral Magic

Each time your Pollen Level increases, choose one of three abilities. At the end of each round, your level resets and you lose all abilities. With over 50 unique abilities to unlock, every turn offers fresh tactical possibilities and powerful synergies.

Study the Terrain

Trees behave differently depending on the terrain they’re planted in. Make clever use of upwinds, nearby water, and mineral-rich soil, while avoiding the spreading blight.

Why I made Light of Arbor

After testing my upcoming game Reenchant, a friend asked me: "Why do you only make action games when you mostly play turn-based ones?" Fair point.

So I decided my next project would be a pure strategy game. But I also wanted to push further into surreal settings and experiment with light as a design element. My main drive is always to create somewhat new mechanics and the rather unusual tree theme allows me to think in new directions.

I already had a sketch tucked away, drawn during vacation on the beach at Kogerstrand: A devoured sun, encircled by four planets, each growing colossal trees that stretch into space. That image wouldn’t leave me alone.

From that seed, Light of Arbor began to grow.

If you're curious about the journey, check out the demo for Reenchant below. If you want to trace the roots even further, swing with Survivors SymphonYs. I’m not on social media (don’t even own a smartphone). But I’ll keep leaving notes like this with every game I make. So if you want to see where this strange forest grows next, follow along.

A friend once asked me: “Why do you only make action games when you mostly play turn-based ones?” Fair point. So my next project became a this pure strategy game,  rooted in surreal settings and built around light as a design element.

From a sketch I made on the beach at Kogerstrand, where a devoured sun hung above four planets, each growing colossal trees into space, Light of Arbor began to grow: A and strange forest reaching beyond the stars.

If you’re curious about the journey, try the demo for Reenchant below. Or trace the roots further back with Survivors SymphonYs. I’m not on social media, but I’ll keep leaving notes like this with every game I make. Follow along, and see where this forest grows next.