"Prune[1]" is the hottest game in Apple's App Store right now. And it's unlike any game you've ever played.

修剪藝術(shù)“Prune”現(xiàn)在是蘋果應用商店里最火的一款游戲，而它極具特色，與你之前玩過的任何一款游戲都不一樣。

Your objective is to help shape your tree as it grows closer to the sun, pruning away branches with simple swipes to avoid obstacles. It's a simple premise, but with gorgeous visuals and a zen[2] soundtrack, it's an extremely addictive experience.

玩家的目標是在樹木越發(fā)向日生長時，為它塑形。玩家可以通過(在屏幕上的)輕松劃動來修剪樹枝，避開障礙物。這款游戲的設想很簡單。不過唯美的視覺效果搭配上充滿禪意的背景樂，能讓玩家極其愛不釋手。

蘋果藝術(shù)類游戲Prune：精簡唯美來襲

Prune was created by Joel McDonald, a 31-year-old developer based in Madison, Wisconsin. In an interview with Tech Insider, McDonald said he was inspired by a tweet, which described how people could generate realistic-looking trees in the multiplatform game engine called Unity. But he said it "clicked when I saw a half-fallen tree in a field, its branches splayed out in all directions."

住在威斯康星州麥迪遜31歲喬爾·麥克唐納是一位游戲開發(fā)者，修剪藝術(shù)Prune便是他的作品。在接受Tech Insider的采訪時，麥克唐納表示他的靈感來源于一條推特。那條推特描述了人們?nèi)绾卧谝粋€名叫協(xié)作(Unity)的多平臺游戲引擎上生成現(xiàn)實感十足的樹木。然而麥克唐納說“當我點擊界面中一棵半彎的樹時，它的樹枝會向四面八方伸展開去。”

"At the time, I had been an indie[3] game developer for about six months and had beenprototyping a bunch of ideas," McDonald said. "I had a few promising leads but I was looking for a nice, short project that could help me get my feet wet[4]. I thought 'Prune' was the perfect project for me to complete in a month or two and release on the App Store to test out the waters."

他回憶道：“那時我已經(jīng)做了六個月的獨立游戲開發(fā)，并產(chǎn)生一大堆初步的想法。”麥克唐納說，“我感覺到它們未來有很大的發(fā)展空間，可我所找尋的是一個不錯的簡短項目，讓我能在一個新的游戲領(lǐng)域做點嘗試。我認為Prune這個項目很適合我。我能在一到兩個月將其完成，然后在軟件商店中發(fā)布，試試水。”

"Prune" took longer than a couple of months. In total, McDonald spent 15 months to finish the project. But he said he just wasn't happy with it. “'Prune' was still missing its soul at that point," he said.

修剪藝術(shù)花費了麥克唐納好幾個月。這個項目共歷時15個月。但是他還對此不夠滿意，他說：“‘修剪藝術(shù)’那時仍缺乏靈魂。”

蘋果藝術(shù)類游戲Prune：精簡唯美來襲

About 10 months into development, McDonald tapped[5] Kyle Preston, a composer and sound designer, to do the music and sounds for "Prune." And he personally refocused his efforts to create a game that was simple and more minimalist.

在游戲開發(fā)大概十個月時，麥克唐納請來了作曲家和音效設計師凱爾·普勒斯頓，專為修剪藝術(shù)Prune制作音樂和音效。而他自己則再次調(diào)整游戲開發(fā)的方向，努力打造一款簡易且更加具有極簡抽象派藝術(shù)特色的游戲。

重點詞匯解說：

1. prune: 這一動詞的本意(包括在此文中的運用)指園藝家剪去長勢較弱或枯死的枝椏，使得植株能繁茂生長。其引申義可指削減(開支)：It might make more sense for the company to prunedown its dividend;除去不必要的部分：When was the last time you pruned your To Do list?

2. zen：日文外來語，意為“禪”、 “禪宗”，屬于佛教的一個分支。在此文中zen作形容詞，表示游戲背景音樂具有禪深遠清幽之意鏡。

3. indie：通?？梢姷拇钆溆衖ndie musicians/ movies，前者意指音樂人不屬于經(jīng)紀公司，作歌譜曲和推廣業(yè)務基本自己一手操辦;而后者指新人(或名氣不大的演員)出演、制作成本小的電影。

4. get one’s feet wet: to start a new activity or job，指的是接觸一個新的領(lǐng)域/做一份全新的工作，通過實踐積累經(jīng)驗。這一表達恰好與后文出現(xiàn)的“test out the waters"相呼應，表明Prune是McDonald進軍一個新游戲市場的作品。

5. tap: 意指懇切地/不斷地請求某人