A cozy game about putting a wild place back together: one plant, one pond, one animal at a time.
macOS·Windows·Linux·English & Español·works fully offline
Wild Willows is a nature-restoration sim. You're the caretaker of a preserve that's seen better days: you gather materials, craft and plant real habitat, reshape the terrain, and animals return as each biome recovers. The ecology is the actual game: species only come back when the habitat can support them, and predators won't settle until there's prey to feed them.
No failing, no clock, no combat. Just a quiet preserve slowly coming back under your care.
Each biome tracks its own Health and Balance and has its own restoration goal: replant the meadow's grasses and wildflowers, rebuild the forest's understory, refill the wetland. Restoring one opens the trail to the next.
150 recipes and 179 habitat pieces (alder snags, basking logs, dragonfly ponds, duck nest boxes), built straight from your basket and chests. No workbench. No menus inside menus.
All 150 species are real, with their real diets, shelters, and habitat needs, researched from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Park Service, US Fish & Wildlife, Audubon, the Smithsonian, the IUCN Red List, NOAA, and more. That research drives the simulation: herbivores need the right plants standing, predators only settle once there's prey to feed them, and each biome tracks the balance of its whole food web. The field guide fills in as animals return, and it reads like a journal, not a textbook.
Weather and seasons roll across the preserve, each biome with its own live forecast. It changes what you can do: some materials only turn up in rain, fog, snow or heat.
I really enjoyed it! It's a cozy game and it's so good! I really like the art and the gameplay is relaxing, there is no pressure or timers. Watching an empty landscape slowly becoming more lively and colorful is pretty rewarding. Thank you for posting this game <3
itch.io review
Simple game, yet a very fun one! honestly i didn't expect much! but it surprised me with some unique/simple/cozy vibes! it offers simple yet/very entertaining. art style is pretty cute! game is such a nice vibe! absolutely loved it! and i love that the full game has different biomes and stuff, it feels like a game well made! definitely a game you should try!
itch.io review
This game has so much content that it's overwhelming (in a good way). Also, I was surprised by the number of settings and accessibility options it has. Pretty cool on your part. The art looks really nice, simple yet charming. I really like the environmental theme of preserving nature
itch.io review
I hope this game continues with great success as it would do wonders for kids/students that are interested in preserving the habitat of different critters. The coziness and its BGM really does help me keep my levels of cortisol low :D. I hope more games like these are created to spread awareness for our environment.
itch.io review
very cute game, im loving the art style , its quite fun to play , recommending this as a family friendly game, good job with the progress to the developer. cant wait to see the full game!
itch.io review
The browser demo is a generous 2-hour test, but it only scratches the surface. To actually complete the reserve, you need the full game to unlock all 6 biomes and discover all 150 animals. It's a low-pressure, cozy experience that expands significantly if you decide to buy the full version.
itch.io review
The settings screen isn't an afterthought. It shipped on day one.
Wild Willows is fully translated. Switch on the title screen or in Settings, anytime. The whole preserve follows.
Gentle, non-violent, and quietly educational. You pick up real ecology just by playing. Rated 9+ on the App Store.
A ready-to-run classroom kit: one lesson, printable worksheets, and nothing to sign up for.
Free to download, print and photocopy for your students. No email, no account, no strings. The whole lesson runs on the free browser demo: Willow Meadow isn’t capped, so a class can restore it, meet the animals and finish the worksheets without anyone buying anything. Demo saves don’t reliably survive between class periods, so plan it as a single session.
I have a limited number of free promo codes set aside for teachers who want to play Wild Willows with their students. They go out first come, first served, so if you’re interested, just ask.
There’s no application and no paperwork. Write to me from your school address with your school, your grade level, roughly how many machines you’d be putting it on, and a line or two about why you want to use Wild Willows with your class. I answer every email either way.
or write to [email protected]
Original soundtrack by Jon Licht
Wild Willows is in active development. Leave your email and I'll send a short note when something ships: a new biome, a new platform, a sale. About once a month at most.
Game updates only. No spam, never shared, unsubscribe with one reply.
A cozy nature-restoration life sim. You set up camp at the edge of a damaged nature preserve, then gather materials, craft and plant real habitat, and shape the land. As each biome recovers, real animal species find their way home.
There's a free demo you can play right in your browser on the itch.io page. The full game is a one-time purchase on the Mac App Store and on itch.io. No ads, no in-app purchases, no loot boxes.
The full game is on the Mac App Store for macOS, and on itch.io for macOS, Windows, and Linux. A free browser demo lives on the itch.io page too.
English and Spanish. You can switch language on the title screen or in Settings at any time.
Yes: a reduce-motion setting, colorblind palettes (red-green, blue-yellow, and high-contrast monochrome), a choice of five interface fonts, adjustable text size, and a plain-language option.
No. There's no combat, no enemies, and no way to fail. Animals are observed and welcomed home, never hunted, captured, or lost, and nothing ever dies.
Yes, and there’s a kit for it: a free educator guide and six student worksheets, both up in For teachers. The lesson runs in one 45–60 minute period for grades 5–8 and works with the free demo. If cost is what’s standing in the way, I keep a limited number of free promo codes for classrooms. Tell me a bit about why you want to use it with your class and write to [email protected].
Yes. It's gentle, non-violent and educational, and rated 9+ on the App Store.
No. The game is fully playable offline, with no account and no sign-in. Your world lives on your own device.
No download, no sign-in. If you like it, the full game is a one-time purchase on the Mac App Store and itch.io.