Think you can do better than Mother Nature? Find out with Preserve’s meditative puzzles. Place plants, animals and terrain on an ever-expanding map to build a balanced ecosystem, such as forests that shelter deer or rivers that flow into goose-friendly marshes. Reach the target score and you’re on to the next eco-challenge!

What we love: The sweet serenity. No timers, no disasters – just gentle music and steady progress as your map fills with colour and movement. Switching from classic mode to puzzle mode sharpens the challenge but makes greening the world even more rewarding.

Quick tip: Not sure why you’re blocked from placing a certain type of terrain or animal? Check the in-game compendium for a reminder of what can go where. Rivers, for instance, have to start on a mountain elevation tile or continue from an existing river. And they can’t flow uphill – obviously!

Meet the creator: Bitmap Galaxy is an indie game studio based in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. The team originally had tile-choking pollution as an obstacle in Preserve, but they scrapped the idea as it just didn’t feel fun.