Orchard Catch

What you do

Orchard Catch is an endless fruit catching game under an autumn orchard canopy. Fruit wobbles on the branches, then drops, and its shadow on the grass shows where it will land. A market crate at the edge of the orchard asks for a small mix, such as three apples and two pears, and each full crate brings the next, slightly larger order. Bees, spiky burrs, and rotten apples fall among the fruit. Every full crate makes the orchard busier: faster falls, two or three fruit at once, wind that blows fruit sideways, and more hazards. Your best score and most crates are saved in this browser.

How to play

1. Press Play. Fruit wobbles on the branches before it drops, and its shadow on the grass shows where it will land.
2. Move the basket under the falling fruit. Drag anywhere on the orchard (the basket slides under your finger), move the mouse, or hold the arrow keys or A and D.
3. The market crate shows the fruit it needs, and that fruit glows as it falls. Each one caught scores 100 points and fills a slot; any other fruit scores 30.
4. Fill every slot to send the crate off for a bonus that grows with each crate, then a new order arrives. Every fifth full crate also restores a heart.
5. You have three hearts. A fruit the crate needs that hits the grass costs half a heart. Catching a bee or a spiky burr costs a whole heart. A rotten apple costs no heart but spoils the crate, emptying the fruit already in it. Letting hazards and spare fruit fall costs nothing.
6. Catch fruit in a row to build a combo: every five catches add half to the multiplier, up to three times the points. Losing a heart or catching a rotten apple ends the combo.
7. Golden apples score 250 and fill any slot. Catch a bubble for a power-up: a wider basket, a slow breeze that halves the falling speed, or a fruit magnet that pulls nearby fruit in. A bar under each power-up shows the time left.
8. Every full crate makes the orchard busier: burrs from crate 2, rotten apples from crate 3, plums and bees from crates 4 and 5, wind from crate 6, and more fruit falling at once. The harvest ends when your hearts run out.

Controls

• Touch: drag or tap anywhere on the orchard; the basket slides under your finger.
• Mouse: move the pointer over the orchard and the basket follows. No clicking is needed.
• Keyboard: hold Left and Right arrows or A and D. The orchard takes focus when a harvest starts.
• Toolbar: pause, restart, sound, help, and fullscreen. Results screens only continue with their Play again and Title buttons.

Tips worth knowing

• Watch the shadows, not just the fruit. On windy crates the fruit drifts, but its shadow always shows the landing spot.
• When two fruit fall at once, save the glowing one. Letting a spare fruit fall costs nothing and keeps your combo.
• Step away from red dashed shadows early. Some hazards aim at the spot where your basket is waiting.
• Rotten apples hurt most when the crate is nearly full, so give them a wide berth late in an order.
• Save the magnet and breeze for busy moments by catching their bubbles as soon as you can reach them safely.

Accessibility

• Steer by touch, mouse, or keyboard; no hover is required on touch screens.
• Fruit, bees, burrs, and rotten apples have distinct shapes as well as colors, and fruit the crate needs glows and has a ringed shadow. This is a visual reaction game.
• A screen reader hears new orders, fruit added to the crate, lost hearts, and the final score.
• Reduced motion stops the branch sway, fruit wobble (a ring marks fruit about to drop instead), screen shake, and drifting leaves; falling fruit and basket movement remain.
• Optional sound and pause are in the toolbar. Every label is at least 12 pixels on phones.

Guides and roundups

• Orchard Catch: Fill the Crate, Dodge the Bees