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10 years of slicing produce (and bombs); Fruit Ninja is 10 years old

10 years of slicing produce (and bombs); Fruit Ninja is 10 years old
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| Fruit Ninja

I feel like Fruit Ninja has been around all my life. I remember seeing other people play Fruit Ninja at school, slicing the fruits up and avoiding bombs. As it turns out, this month is Fruit Ninja’s 10th anniversary, so it has, indeed, been around for as long as I have had a phone.

Fruit Ninja, a fun and colorful game developed by Halfbrick, was released on November 4th, 2019 for iOS devices, and then released on December 17th for Android - but this game didn’t stop there. Over the years, versions of Fruit Ninja would appear on the Xbox 360, PC, HTC Vive, PS4, and updated over the mobile space as well. The initial game had reached over 300 million downloads by May of 2012, landing over a billion downloads today.

Fruit Ninja wasn’t a random project that just made its way to fame - the developer’s behind the game spent time researching what would work just right on the iOS platform, and then started creating and streamlining the development process. They were very aware that you can be at the top of the app store, then fall down quickly, so they had planned on releasing at just the right time, and providing updates so that Fruit Ninja continued to be fresh and keep the attention of both players and press.

Over the years, we have seen Fruit Ninja plushies, Fruit Ninja Frenzy Force - an animated series with characters from Fruit Ninja, tons of spins off, a series of board games, and so much more. There is a lot to be said about a game that’s lasted 10 years - adjusting their vision, adding to the game, and expanding in a way that makes sense for the game and for the company.

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If you download Fruit Ninja today on your mobile device, I am sure you will recognize it from the early days of the game. The base gameplay hasn’t actually changed - instead it has been built upon. The game has a classic mode, a zen mode where there aren’t any bombs at all, and an arcade mode that just has a timer - and a challenge to get as high of a score as you can. Fruit Ninja has added a system to level up, unlocking power-ups and upgrades as you go. There is a place for events that are seasonal - a feature many games have implemented to get players into their game, playing time-limited events.

The UI of the game feels fresh and polished, you can easily see everything you need to see. Unlike when it first released, Fruit Ninja is now free, with in-app purchases to help you along - or just change the look of your swiping blade - as well as optional ads if you want a bit of extra time or a second go.

Fruit Ninja is a quick game to pick up, it needs no real instructions, and the graphics are easy to recognize and understand. It’s a game suitable for all ages that uses the swipe features of phones well and has spent the last while adapting to the mobile world. Cheers to 10 years, and on to 10 more.

Jupiter Hadley
Jupiter Hadley
Jupiter is a prolific indie game journalist with a focus on smaller indie gems. She covers thousands of game jams and indie games on her YouTube channel, letting every game have a moment in the spotlight. She runs indiegamejams.com, a calendar of all of the game jams going on in the world, and judges many jams and events. You can find her on Twitter as @Jupiter_Hadley