Jack Lumber Preview

Jack Lumber is a log-slicing game that’s all about taking revenge on trees. Because let’s face it, trees suck. Who needs those stuck-up piles of wood? All just sittin’ there, smug-like, making…oxygen…

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What rolls down stairs, alone or in pairs? The objects of Jack Lumber’s hatred.

Jack Lumber is a log-slicing game that’s all about taking revenge on trees. Because let’s face it, trees suck. Who needs those stuck-up piles of wood? All just sittin’ there, smug-like, making…oxygen…

Jack Lumber is developed by Owlchemy Labs, the crew behind the controversial iOS/Android driving game, Snuggle Truck. Jack Lumber probably won’t need to undergo any major premise revisions before it goes live, but its story is still pretty bizarre: after a tree falls on Granny Lumber and squashes her flat, beefy Jack Lumber decides that it’s time to take up his axe, stand toe-to-toe with the forest, and dish up a little payback.

At its core, Jack Lumber plays similarly to Fruit Ninja, but with some clear differences. First off, forget fruit: this is all about wood. More importantly, Jack Lumber operates in “Lumber Time.” Multiple logs fly up on the screen, and slow down just long enough for you to draw out a path for the quickest, cleanest, and most efficient cuts through all the logs. Nabbing the “Time Extension” log is especially important, because if you run out of time before you manage to chart a path through all the logs, you’ll fail, and Granny’s soul will never know peace.

Jack Lumber
Jack Lumber
Jack Lumber

There’s also the added complication of wildlife. Skunks, moose, and other critters fly up on-screen along with your logs, and if you get over-zealous and nick one with your axe as you chart your log-cutting path, it’s Game Over, Paul Bunyan. Sure, you’re on a war to wreck the animals’ homes, but you don’t want to behead the animals themselves.

(Yet.)

Jack Lumber is coming to iOS this summer. Stay tuned to Gamezebo for more information on the best ways to mess up matricidal trees.

In the early aughts, Nadia fell into writing with the grace of a brain-dead bison stumbling into a chasm. Over the years, she's written for Nerve, GamePro, 1UP.com, USGamer, Pocket Gamer, Just Labs Magazine, and many other sites and magazines of fine repute. She's currently About.com's Guide to the Nintendo 3DS at ds.about.com.