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PlayOwl
Forest Trails Photos cover art, a 3D just-for-fun game for Grades 2–12 3D 15 free levels

PlayTime · Puzzle Gardens

Forest Trails Photos

Creep up on the animals of a big forest valley and take the closest, best wildlife photos you can, without startling them.

Grades
2–12
Levels
36 in 3 tracks
Free
15 levels
Session
5–18 minutes

What it is

A wildlife photography adventure with no bow at all. Explore a big 3D forest valley of grassy meadows, woodland, a river and ponds with a zoom camera. Your goal is to photograph animals from as close as you can without startling them: crouch, move slowly, use cover and keep the breeze blowing towards you, because every animal has a flight distance and some can smell you from downwind. Each photo scores up to three stars for getting close, framing the animal well, catching it facing you and keeping it calm, and your best shots fill a photo album. Meet shy fernstripes, hog families, marsh waders, foxes, hares, squirrels, ducks, herons and bright forest birds, read tracks, look closely at kapok trees and the mineral-rich bai, and find your way with a compass. Rosette prowlers patrol some trails; if one notices you, walk to a glowing safe ring, and if it finds you, you restart at your last safe ring. 16 hand-designed missions in two chapters plus a 20-level campaign, starting with a guided first mission. The game is entertainment, not wildlife-safety instruction.

What children learn

PlayTime is played for fun. Forest Trails Photos practises patience, careful watching and finding your way, but it is never counted as learning evidence.

What it teaches

  • Hand–eye coordination

How to play

W A S D or arrow keys walk, Shift hurries, C crouches, Q and E or a mouse drag turn the view, F or the right mouse button raises the camera, the mouse wheel or Z and X zoom, Space or a click takes a photo, B opens the photo album, G tosses a pebble, L or Enter looks closer, M shows the map, P or Escape pauses. Touch screens get a walking stick, a zoom slider and big Camera, Snap, Crouch, Look and Pebble buttons. Gamepads work too. A flat map view works without 3D graphics.

Plays with: Touch Mouse Keyboard

Accessibility

  • Read-aloud on request
  • Fully playable with a keyboard
  • Calm mode with reduced motion
  • No timers or time pressure
  • Never relies on color alone
  • Quiet mode turns off sound effects

Level maps

Tracks and levels

Each track is made for a grade range. Start anywhere that fits — you don't have to play the younger tracks first. As a guest, your stars are saved on this device.

20-Level Campaign

Twenty wildlife photo missions across the whole valley, ending with four multi-species photo expeditions.
2–12 20 levels · 5 free

20-Level Campaign

Twenty wildlife photo missions across the whole valley, ending with four multi-species photo expeditions. · 2–12

Levels 1–5 free
  1. 1 Notebook and Lens ☆☆☆
  2. 2 Hoofprint Trail ☆☆☆
  3. 3 Hog Family ☆☆☆
  4. 4 Who Made These? ☆☆☆
  5. 5 Crestbird Calls ☆☆☆
  6. 6 Kapok Giants Plan level
  7. 7 Quiet Steps Plan level
  8. 8 Shadow on the Path Plan level
  9. 9 Edge of the Bai Plan level
  10. 10 Parrot Morning Plan level
  11. 11 Stepping Stones Plan level
  12. 12 Reading the Mud Plan level
  13. 13 Compass Walk Plan level
  14. 14 Dusk Watch Plan level
  15. 15 Rain Notes Plan level
  16. 16 Full Field Guide Plan level
  17. 17 The Canopy Ridge Survey Plan level
  18. 18 The Three Pools Census Plan level
  19. 19 Rainforest After the Rain Plan level
  20. 20 The Complete Valley Expedition Plan level

Levels after 5 are part of a PlayOwl plan. Free levels, saving and basic reports stay free.

Start 20-Level Campaign

Chapter 1: First Photos

A guided first mission, then tracks, quiet watching, close-up photos of animals and birds, and looking closely at forest giants.
2–12 8 levels · 5 free

Chapter 1: First Photos

A guided first mission, then tracks, quiet watching, close-up photos of animals and birds, and looking closely at forest giants. · 2–12

Levels 1–5 free

Levels after 5 are part of a PlayOwl plan. Free levels, saving and basic reports stay free.

Start Chapter 1: First Photos

Chapter 2: Bai Watch

Photographing the swampy clearing: marsh waders, chattering flocks, stepping stones, muddy tracks, compass walks, dusk at the water hole and rainy-day close-ups.
3–12 8 levels · 5 free

Chapter 2: Bai Watch

Photographing the swampy clearing: marsh waders, chattering flocks, stepping stones, muddy tracks, compass walks, dusk at the water hole and rainy-day close-ups. · 3–12

Levels 1–5 free

Levels after 5 are part of a PlayOwl plan. Free levels, saving and basic reports stay free.

Start Chapter 2: Bai Watch

Keep exploring

Guide for grown-ups

More from Puzzle Gardens

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