Fruit Ninja is a video game developed by Halfbrick Studios originally released on April 20, 2010. In the game, the player must slice fruit that is thrown into the air by swiping the device's touch screen with their finger(s) or (in the case of the Xbox 360 version) the player's arms and hands, and must not slice bombs. It features multiple gameplay modes, leaderboards and multiplayer.
The game was initially released for iPod Touch and iPhone devices before being expanded to other devices and platforms: It was ported to Android devices on May 13, 2010, and to Microsoft Windows on May 20, 2010. July 9, 2010, for iPad devices, December 22, 2010, for Windows Phone, and March 2011 for Samsung's Bada and Nokia's Symbian. Just prior to E3 2011 Fruit Ninja Kinect, which utilizes the Kinect peripheral, was released for the Xbox 360 on August 10, 2011.
Fruit Ninja was also released for Windows 8, on June 7, 2012. Versions with alternative names exist, such as Fruit Ninja HD on the iPad; also released on Intel AppUp in 2011 for Windows, Fruit Ninja THD for Nvidia Tegra 2–based Android devices, Fruit Ninja VR for HTC Vive and PlayStation 4, and an arcade version called Fruit Ninja FX with a sequel Fruit Ninja FX 2 following in November 2012. A version using the Leap Motion was released in 2013 for Microsoft Windows. A mobile version using the keypad was released in 2021 for KaiOS devices.
The game was well received by critics; In August 2013, Fruit Ninja reached 700 million downloads. In 2015, the app reached 1 billion downloads. Reviewers felt that the low cost of the game combined with addictive gameplay yielded an excellent value. They further lauded the post-launch support provided by Halfbrick, which brought online multiplayer, achievements, and leaderboards to the game.
Release Date
April 20, 2010
- iOS, iPod Touch Paid
April 20, 2010 - Android
May 13, 2010 - Microsoft Windows, Personal Computer
May 20, 2010 - iPad Paid
July 9, 2010 - iPhone, iPod Touch Lite
August 1, 2010 - iPad Lite
August 6, 2010 - Windows Phone
December 22, 2010 - Symbian OS
March 2011 - Bada OS
March 29, 2011 - Xbox 360
August 10, 2011 - Windows 8
June 7, 2012 - Nook Color
June 10, 2011 - PlayStation Vita
August 13, 2013 - Xbox One
March 18, 2015 - HTC Vive
July 7, 2016 - PlayStation 4 / PS VR
December 20, 2016 - Oculus Quest
April 30, 2020 - KaiOS
August 26, 2021 - Nex Playground
December 2023
Gameplay
In Fruit Ninja, the player slices fruit with a blade controlled via the touch screen (Unless they are on the Xbox 360 edition) . As the fruit is thrown onto the screen, the player swipes their finger across the screen to create a slicing motion, attempting to slice the fruit in half. Extra points are awarded for slicing multiple fruits with one swipe (called "combo"s), and players can use additional fingers to make multiple slices simultaneously. Players must slice all fruit; if three cumulative fruits are missed, the game ends, but upon reaching scores that are multiples of one hundred and the players have lost at least a life, the player will gain an extra life. Bombs are occasionally thrown onto the screen, and will also end the game should the player slice them.
Modes
Zen Mode
A mode known as "Zen" allows players to seek high scores without the hindrance of bombs appearing on the screen, but players only have a minute and thirty seconds.
Arcade Mode
Arcade Mode is similar to Zen Mode, except bombs only deduct 10 points from the player's score instead of losing, and three frequently appearing special bananas, consisting "Frenzy", "Score x2" and "Freeze", which have unique bonus power-ups, such as doubling points scored for a limited time ("Score x2"), throwing more fruit from the game screen's sides without risk of bombs ("Frenzy"), and/or freezing the time for a few seconds ("Freeze").
Classic
In Classic, special pomegranates are occasionally thrown on-screen. In Arcade, it is guaranteed that at the end of each game, a pomegranate will appear. Players can slice one multiple times; all slices credit points as a multi-hit target. Similarly, an ultra-rare dragonfruit sometimes appears in Classic mode which, if sliced, awards players fifty points.
When Fruit Ninja celebrated its second anniversary, Halfbrick released an update with a new feature called Gutsu's Cart, which comprises two characters, a pig named Truffles and a merchant named Gutsu. In the various modes of the game, the player can earn starfruit to purchase items in Gutsu's Cart. There are three purchasable items at the cart which are used in the game; Berry Blast causes sliced strawberries to explode and gives the player five extra points. Another item is Peachy Times: slicing a peach in Zen or Arcade mode gives the player two extra seconds. The third item is Bomb Deflects which saves the player accidentally slicing up to 3 bombs. Starfruit can be obtained after each game, proportional to the score, or by slicing the semi-rare starfruit.
In the fifth anniversary update to Fruit Ninja, Gutsu's Cart was removed and instead replaced with a power-up menu that used starfruit to buy the three power-ups in the game. Berry Blast power-ups were priced at 120 starfruit each, Peachy Times power-ups were priced at 100 starfruit, and Bomb Deflect power-ups were priced at 80 starfruit. In addition, certain dojos and blades now had different effects that took place within the Classic, Arcade, and Zen game modes. For example, if a player owned the Cherry Blossom dojo, the power-up costs were 50% off. A new festival mode was added in as well, where players could compete against the game's artificial intelligence by paying Gold Apples for each challenge. There were also mini-games added to challenge the skills of newcomers and experts alike.
Multiplayer gameplay is supported on iOS devices through Apple's Game Center application. It allows for competitive gameplay and features leaderboards and achievements. During multiplayer matches, the player's blade and fruit are highlighted in blue, while the opponent's are highlighted in red. White outlined fruit are considered neutral and may be claimed by either player. White outlined fruit are worth three points. Players must slice their own fruit while avoiding their opponent's fruit. The iPad version of the game features enhanced graphics and also supports local multiplayer, with the screen being divided in half and each player controlling half of the screen. Players can also share high scores via OpenFeint, Twitter and Facebook.
Sound Effects Used
- Sound Ideas, ANIMAL, CREATURE - LARGE ANIMAL ROAR 10
- Sound Ideas, APPLAUSE, CHEERING - INDOOR: MEDIUM CROWD IN SCHOOL AUDITORIUM, AUDIENCE 05 (Heard in the arcade mode at the end.)
- Sound Ideas, CLOCK, ALARM - LARGE ALARM CLOCK: BELL RINGING
- Sound Ideas, FOREST, ASIA - ASIA: DAYTIME AMBIENCE, BIRDS 01
- Sound Ideas, MONSTER, FANTASY - GWYTHAINT SNARL 03
- Sound Ideas, SWORD - TWO SWORDS SCRAPING, RING OFF 01
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