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In a way, iPhone and iTouch have opened up portals to distance worlds. You can explore far off space, you can search through the deep sea, and you can visit foreign countries. All you need is your iDevice and the right app for the job. Some apps can get you excited, some apps can inform, and some can sooth you. Well I decided to try and find and app that can take me on a quick calming vacation to a foreign country, and I ended up checking out iBonsai. An app that you grow virtual Bonsai trees? Well I put this app to the test and here’s what I found.

Brainpower Labs, the makers of iBonsai, did a fairly well job in designing this app. However, there’s just not much you can do to make watching trees grow interesting, but they certainly did try. For starters, the app has a clear Japanese influence that is somewhat calming. Combined with a music play list you would expect to find in on a monks iPod, the feeling of the app is generally calming.

The entire app is focused on watching a tree grow. That’s basically it. Every time you grow a new tree it will be different. The tree isn’t a virtual masterpiece. Instead, it looks as if it’s being painted by a Japanese artist. You can change certain things about how the tree grows in the option menu. But you’ll be hard pressed to make the app any more interesting than just a few minutes of entertainment. Turn off the gravity in the options menu to make the tree wiggle, dance and spin.

All in all this app probably isn’t worth the $.99 to the average user. There might be a few users out there that find this app fun and addicting, but most of us will use it once and never again.

Verdict: 2/5 Stars