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Fruit Basket is a free online fruit catching game set in a summer orchard. Fruit ripens on one wide apple tree — you can watch it swell and colour — then drops, and you walk your basket along the grass to catch it. The catch is that fruit only scores once you carry it to the cart at the end of the row and tip it in, and the basket holds just eight and slows down with every fruit you add. A rotten apple spoils everything in the basket. Twelve 40-second stages bring in heavy pears, a breeze, guarding bees, bouncing plums, golden apples, a cart that moves and a dusk where you only see fruit once it falls. Every round is checked before you play it: a careful player has already reached its goal. Play with the keys, a mouse or a finger — no download, no sign-up.
How to play Fruit Basket
- Pick a stage and press Start, Space, or tap the orchard. The 40-second clock starts and the first fruit begins to ripen on the tree.
- Walk your basket left and right along the grass: hold the arrow keys or A and D, move the mouse over the orchard, or put a finger down and drag. An empty basket crosses the whole row in about a second and a half.
- Watch the tree. Each fruit swells and turns from green to ripe, shivers, then drops. Get your basket under it before it falls past the rim.
- Fruit only scores once it is in the cart. Walk to the cart at the end of the row and the basket tips in by itself: apples and plums are worth 10, pears 20, golden apples 50, and a basket filled to the brim earns 20 more.
- The basket holds 8 — a pear counts as two — and every fruit makes it slower. A full basket moves at under two thirds of the speed of an empty one, so choose when to make the trip.
- Keep out from under rotten brown apples: one landing in the basket spoils everything in it. Whatever is still in the basket when the clock runs out is lost.
- Tip the stage’s goal into the cart to clear it and unlock the next; more points earn the second and third stars. Later stages bring in pears, a breeze, bees, bouncing plums, golden apples, a moving cart and dusk. Switching to another tab pauses the round.
Tips
- Tip in when the tree is quiet. The walk to the cart and back costs a couple of fruit, so make it in a gap between drops rather than in the middle of a busy patch.
- Fill it to the brim when you can. A full basket earns 20 extra, but it is slow — fill the last space with fruit close to the cart.
- A rotten apple usually hangs right beside a good fruit and drops just after it. Catch the good one at the edge of the basket that is further from the rotten one, or let it go.
- In a breeze, watch the flag: fruit drifts the way it points, further the longer the flag.
- Plan your trips round the bees. A bee guards its patch for a few seconds, and if the patch is between you and the cart, tip in before it settles.
- A plum that bounces comes down again a little to one side — run under the second fall if you missed the first.
- When the cart is about to move, an arrow flashes over it. Tip in before it leaves, or follow it to the other end.
FAQ
Is Fruit Basket free to play?
Yes. Fruit Basket is free to play online in your browser, with no download, no account and nothing to buy. All twelve stages are here and unlock in order.
How do I move the basket?
Hold the left and right arrow keys, or A and D. With a mouse, just move it over the orchard and the basket walks to follow it. On a phone or tablet, put a finger down anywhere on the orchard and drag. Space starts and pauses the round.
Why did my score not go up when I caught a fruit?
Fruit only scores once it is in the cart. Carry the basket to the cart at the end of the row and it tips in by itself. Fruit still in the basket when the 40 seconds run out is lost, so make your last trip in time.
How does scoring work?
Apples and plums are worth 10, pears 20 and golden apples 50, counted when you tip them into the cart. Tipping in a basket filled to the brim — 8, with a pear counting as two — earns 20 more. Reach the stage’s goal to clear it and earn one star; the second and third stars need more.
What happens if I catch a rotten apple?
It spoils everything in your basket, which is emptied at once. Fruit you have already tipped into the cart is safe. Rotten apples are brown with dark spots from the moment they appear, and most hang right beside a good fruit and drop just after it.
Why does my basket slow down?
Every fruit adds weight, and a pear weighs as much as two apples. A full basket moves at under two thirds of the speed of an empty one, so carrying a lot means a slower walk to the cart and to the next fruit.
Is every round possible?
Yes. Every round is dealt before it starts, and a careful simulated player — one who only sees what the screen shows — is played through it to the goal first. A round it cannot finish is never dealt.
Can I just stand by the cart, or run about at random?
No. A player who never moves — by the cart, in the middle or anywhere else — never reaches the goal. Walking to a random spot every fifth of a second to every second and a half, without looking at the tree, reaches it in fewer than 1 round in 10 on every stage.
How are the goal and the star scores set?
They are measured, not guessed. Three simulated players — a casual one who chases whatever falls next, a regular one who picks the best of the next few and a sharp one who plans three catches ahead, each with a human reaction time and a habit of misjudging a little — play every stage 41 times. The goal is set so most casual players reach it, fewer on later stages; two stars is the regular player’s middle score and three stars the sharp player’s.
Is the game the same whatever my screen’s frame rate?
Yes. The orchard runs on a fixed clock of 120 steps a second, and every key press and drag counts from the moment it happened, not from the next frame drawn. A 60 Hz phone and a 144 Hz monitor play exactly the same round.
How is Fruit Basket different from Fruit Slicer or Fruit Merge?
Fruit Slicer is about swiping a blade through fruit thrown into the air, and Fruit Merge drops fruit into a well to merge matching pairs. In Fruit Basket you catch fruit falling from a tree and decide when to carry the heavy basket to the cart — every trip is a choice between catching more and keeping what you have.
Does Fruit Basket work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Drag with one finger to walk the basket. The orchard fits a phone held upright, and it plays sideways too.