Timber Haul for parents: what the forestry game is like
Timber Haul is a calm 3D forestry simulation game in the browser for kids from about 8 to 12. The player runs three forest machines in a snowy Swedish forest: a harvester that fells and cuts trees, a forwarder that carries the logs to the road, and a timber truck that drives them to a mill. There is no fighting, no blood and no game over, and there are no ads. This page lists the facts a grown-up may want before their child plays.
What does the player do?
- Fells marked trees with the harvester and cuts them into logs.
- Loads logs with a crane, step by step: reach, grip, lift, turn and set down.
- Drives a forwarder to the roadside and a timber truck with a trailer to one of four mills.
- Weighs the load, unloads it at the mill and gets paid in play money.
- Spends the money on fuel, repairs, machine upgrades and hired drivers.
- Plans around winter: work days, a deadline, and a spring thaw that closes the forest road to loaded trucks.
There are three forests, played as three chapters of one winter season. The full list is on the three forests. The game rewards care more than speed: tidy loads, careful driving and a protected forest floor earn optional medals.
Content notes
- No injuries. A machine can tip over or drop its load. That only costs time and play money; nobody is shown or described as hurt.
- No violence, weapons or strong language.
- Felling trees. Cutting trees is the work of the game. The trees fall with a burst of snow. With Moving effects set to Calm, those snow bursts and the panel animations are turned off.
- Darkness and weather. Some scenes are at dusk or in the evening, with work lights. Nothing jumps out to scare the player.
- Made-up places and machines. The forests, mills and companies are fictional, with no real brands or logos.
How much reading is there?
All instructions are written, with no voice acting. Sentences are short. Each chapter starts with a short briefing, and the screen always shows the next stop and a hint about what to do. A younger child may need help reading the briefings at first. A separate crane practice lets the child learn the crane with no clock and no money.
How long is a session?
The game is designed so each forest takes about 20 to 50 minutes, and a whole season about one and a half to two hours; these are planned times, not measurements. The game is easy to play in short sessions: it saves as you go, and menus and the pause panel stop the clock. The briefing says it too: "Play a short shift, then pause whenever you like."
Where is progress saved?
The game saves by itself in the browser on the device being used. There are three separate save slots, so siblings can each have their own career. The crane practice and the settings are saved too. If the browser blocks saving, for example in some private windows, the game says so. A save that cannot be read is put aside, and the player is told in plain words.
Ads, purchases and data
- There are no ads in the game.
- There is nothing to buy with real money inside the game. The money in the game is play money earned by delivering timber.
- There is no chat and no in-game account.
- The game reports a few play events, such as starting and finishing a job, to the Contenta Games portal.
Devices, controls and languages
- Plays in a web browser on computers, phones and tablets, with no download. It needs a browser that can show 3D graphics (WebGL).
- Keyboard and mouse, game controller or touch buttons. On phones and tablets the game is played in landscape; held upright, it pauses and asks to be turned.
- Nine languages: English, Swedish, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.
- Settings under Play your way: volume, music, sound effects, a sound on/off switch, Moving effects (Like my device, Calm or Full), graphics quality and language.
All controls are listed on the controls page.
Built-in help
- The Next stop box and a yellow road guide show where to go.
- The Help panel gives four short tips: one for each machine and one for the workshop, plus the controls.
- Restart this chapter in the pause menu goes back to the start of the chapter.
- Hired operators can run the machines, and Watch operators lets the child watch the whole crew work.
How to get the game
Timber Haul can be tried in the browser with a demo. The full game is part of the Contenta Games membership, which opens every game on the portal. See what a membership includes, or browse the guides to all our games.
See also
- The guide's front page: what the game is about.
- FAQ: quick answers to common questions.
- Your first forest job: what the first minutes look like.
- Play Timber Haul together.
