The circle of life needs your help! In the soothing nature sim PolyPine, plant seeds to grow everything from humble daisies to mighty maples, then populate your world with beneficial creatures. Nearly every part of the ecosystem depends on another: While bark beetles will kill a tree, that toppled trunk is a home for cute snails. Guide the formation of healthy habitats in forests, mountains, and lakes, then sit back and let nature take its course.

What we love: Perfectly balancing the wilderness. It’s enormously satisfying transforming a featureless prairie into a dense forest teeming with diverse plant and animal life. And watching a stable ecosystem thrive on its own as the seasons fly by is as relaxing as it is rewarding.

Quick tip: Most plants require manure to grow. Animals will heed nature’s call on their own, but tapping on a critter will make it poop on command. It’s good for the soil (and a childlike chuckle or two)!

Meet the creator: Swedish solo developer Anton Holmberg spent a year traveling around the United States in a camper van, visiting national parks while building the first prototype of PolyPine. He initially planned to simulate only the life cycles of trees but decided to focus on full ecosystems after friends and family got excited about seeing animals in the game.