Thistledown: Rabbit Breeding

Gran's warren is yours. Breed real rabbit coats gene by gene, win rosettes at the village show, and bring back the breed she never finished.

Gran left you three rabbits and an unfinished breed. Finish it.

Thistledown Warren is a cozy rabbit breeding game with real genetics, drawn by hand in pixel art. Your grandmother's warren is yours now: her hutch, a meadow gone to thistles, her journal, and Biscuit, Clover and Barnaby waiting by the gate. Two of them are hiding a secret. Their first litter will tell you what it is.

EVERY COAT IS A PUZZLE Every rabbit carries the coat genes real breeders work with: agouti and tan, chocolate, chinchilla and himalayan, dilute, harlequin, broken, Dutch, Vienna, dwarf, angora, rex and the lionhead's mane. Some genes hide. A black doe can carry chocolate for years until a litter gives her away, and the "?" on her card becomes a letter. The litter planner only uses what you've worked out, so you get better at every pairing.

REAL BREEDS, REAL SHOWS Breed toward 32 real breed standards, from the Holland Lop and Netherland Dwarf to the Rhinelander and the Checkered Giant. Enter the village show, watch the judge walk the benches with his eyeglass, and fill Gran's rosette cabinet. Breed a line true for three generations and register it as your own breed. And somewhere in Gran's notes is the Thistledown Silver, the breed she never finished.

EVERY RABBIT IS SOMEBODY Names, personalities and quirks: the shy one who only comes if you hold your finger still, the glutton, the diva who sulks if nobody admires her. Stroke them, brush them, find their favorite greens, and peek into the nest when the kits are born. In Gentle mode, the default, no rabbit ever dies.

A WARREN THAT GROWS WITH YOU Clear the thicket and draw your own pens, buy the fields next door, plant an orchard, lay paths, dig a pond and hire the village carpenter. Restore Gran's cottage. Open the gates and the village comes to look. Two hired hands, Chan and Beth, help with the chores.

A BONSAI GARDEN, FREE Grow trees from seed over real days in Gran's bonsai garden. Snip, pinch, wire and repot, pick one of eight styles, and show your best tree at the season's exhibition.

REAL TIME, REAL SEASONS The warren keeps living while you're away. Kits are born, the seasons turn, snow falls on the hutches, and a letter tells you everything that happened.

FOUR PLACES TO GO Expansions take you somewhere new, and you earn them in play: The Silver Country, Madame Roux's farm and the silvering gene. Highland Wool: spin, dye, knit and weave. Across the Brook: restore the old watermill and grow your own grain. The Tea Room: open one, bake, and meet the regulars.

No ads. No energy bars. No loot boxes. Just you, Gran's rabbits and as much time as you like.