Forgelight 
Pick two cacti
On the Bench, set two flowering cacti side by side. Before you breed, the seed packets show the true percentage for every possible seedling.
Desert garden · Dry Gulch
Pocket Cactus
Support & help
A cozy cactus-breeding game in the frontier town of Dry Gulch. Cross two cacti, see the real odds, plant the seeds and wait for the bloom.
Coming soon to the App Store
- Plays offline
- No account needed
- Data not collected
- Nothing ever dies
A look around
Inside the greenhouse
The loop
How to play
Pocket Cactus is a slow, cozy game. You breed, you plant, you wait, and something new blooms. The four tabs along the bottom are the Greenhouse, the Bench, the Journal and the Town.
Pollinate
Tap Pollinate and the seed pod starts to ripen. When it's ready, you collect the seeds.
Plant and water
Plant the seeds in the Greenhouse and water them. A thirsty cactus just waits for you; nothing ever dies.
Wait for it
Your cacti grow in real time, even while the app is closed, and they grow faster under the night sky.
The bloom
When a cactus blooms, you finally see what you bred. Every cactus gets its own name, like Globosa Olivina Rubra.
Fill the journal
Every new cactus goes into your Journal. Fill it one collection set at a time.
Breed & discover
11,520 desert blooms
Every cactus is a mix of four traits: shape, body color, spines and flower. Cross two and see what blooms.
- 6
- shapes
- 12
- body colors
- 10
- spine styles
- 16
- flower colors
6 × 12 × 10 × 16 = 11,520 combinations.
Rare forms
Two rare forms can appear on any cactus: Variegated (2%) and Cristate (1%).
Honest odds
The Breed screen shows the same table the game rolls on. The full table is in Settings, under The odds. There are no random paid items.
Real time
Days & seasons
The desert follows your own clock and the real calendar.
Day and night
Day and night follow your own clock. Cacti grow faster under the night sky, so it's worth a peek before bed.
Weather
The seasons follow the real calendar, with weather to match.
Winter
Cacti rest in winter. After a frost night, every mature cactus blooms in the frost at dawn.
Dry Gulch
Welcome to town
Dry Gulch is a sleepy little frontier town with a very good greenhouse.
Orders
Fill orders for Sheriff Calloway, Miss Rosa and the rest of Dry Gulch. Orders in winter last five days, so there's no rush.
The wagon
The wagon rolls into town on its own schedule. If your phone's clock goes backwards, it waits until the date catches up.
Free to play, fairly
Purchases
The full game is free. There are no energy timers, no pay-to-skip and no loot boxes. Everything below is optional, bought once through Apple, and shared with your Family Sharing group.
Ranch Deed
A one-time upgrade:
- More greenhouse space
- A hired hand who waters for you
- The Rare Seed Stall
Terracotta Pots
An optional cosmetic pack to dress up your greenhouse.
Dusk Shelves
An optional cosmetic pack: a new look for your greenhouse.
All purchases live in Settings (the gear at the top of every screen), along with Restore purchases.
Good to know
The fine print, in plain words
Settings, saves and privacy at a glance.
Your data
Your greenhouse is saved on your phone only. Pocket Cactus collects nothing and needs no account. See the privacy policy.
Offline
The whole game ships inside the app. It plays offline and makes no connections of its own.
Notifications
Optional. If you turn them on, you get a note when something blooms or a seed pod is ready. Turn them off in the game's Settings at any time.
FAQ
Common questions
Tap a question to open it.
Does my cactus grow while the app is closed?
Yes. Growth follows real time and your own clock. Open the app and everything has caught up, up to a week away.
Can anything die?
No. A thirsty cactus just waits for water. Nothing is ever lost.
Are the odds on the Breed screen real?
Yes. The bench shows the same table the game rolls on. Rare forms are Variegated (2%) and Cristate (1%); the full table is in Settings, under The odds.
Why is nothing blooming in winter?
Cacti rest in winter and don't build toward a bloom. After a frost night, every mature cactus blooms in the frost at dawn. Orders in winter last five days, so there's no rush.
I changed my phone's clock and the wagon stopped coming.
When the clock goes backwards, the wagon waits until the date catches up. Your plants are fine.
How do I get my purchases back on a new phone?
Open Settings (the gear at the top) and tap Restore purchases. The Ranch Deed and packs are shared with your Family Sharing group too.
What if I refund the Ranch Deed?
You keep the extra pots, every pot you bought and everything you grew. The hired hand, the Rare Seed Stall and the third bench go back to town, and the greenhouse can't grow past the pots you already have.
Can I move my greenhouse to a new phone?
Your greenhouse is saved on the phone. An iPhone backup or a direct transfer to a new iPhone brings it along.
Still stuck?
Need a hand?
Write to [email protected]. Say which iPhone and iOS version you have, and what you saw.