iOS藝術類遊戲Prune：精簡唯美來襲

"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“Prune”現在是蘋果應用商店裏最火的一款遊戲，而它極具特色，與你之前玩過的任何一款遊戲都不一樣。

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向日生長時，爲它塑形。玩家可以通過（在屏幕上的）輕鬆划動來修剪樹枝，避開障礙物。這款遊戲的設想很簡單。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。

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·麥克唐納是一位遊戲開發者，修剪藝術Prune便是他的作品。在接受Tech Insider的採訪時，麥克唐納表示他的靈感來源於一條推特。那條推特描述了人們如何在一個名叫協作（Unity）的多平臺遊戲引擎上生成現實感十足的樹木。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 been prototyping 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：“那時我已經做了六個月的獨立遊戲開發，併產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，讓我能在一個新的遊戲領域做點嘗試。我認爲Prune這個項目很適合我。我能在一到兩個月將其完成，然後在軟件商店中發佈，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’那時仍缺乏靈魂。”

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.
在遊戲開發大概十個月時，麥克唐納請來了作曲家和音效設計師凱爾·普勒斯頓，專爲修剪藝術Prune製作音樂和音效。而他自己則再次調整遊戲開發的方向，努力打造一款簡易且更加具有極簡抽象派藝術特色的遊戲。

重點詞彙解說：

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 prune down 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，意爲“禪”、 “禪宗”，屬於佛教的一個分支。在此文中zen作形容詞，表示遊戲背景音樂具有禪深遠清幽之意鏡。

3. indie：通常可見的搭配有indie musicians/ movies，前者意指音樂人不屬於經紀公司，作歌譜曲和推廣業務基本自己一手操辦；而後者指新人（或名氣不大的演員）出演、製作成本小的電影。

4. get one’s feet wet: to start a new activity or job，指的是接觸一個新的領域/做一份全新的工作，通過實踐積累經驗。這一表達恰好與後文出現的“test out the waters"相呼應，表明Prune是McDonald進軍一個新遊戲市場的作品。

5. tap: 意指懇切地/不斷地請求某人