Cell Lab: Evolution Sandbox

by Petter Säterskog


Simulation

free



Create microorganisms and watch evolution improve them!

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WARNING: Cell Lab is a very challenging game that requires lots of thinking and experimenting. Reading the instructions will be necessary. If you enjoy difficult simulation puzzles then this is for you.Cell Lab simulates few-celled organisms. It contains 45 challenges where the player is presented with an environment and has to design an organism that will survive in it. Solving challenges unlocks additional genes that can give cells new properties.The encoding of the cells behaviour has been made as intuitive as possible without losing generality but it nevertheless takes a bit of effort to understand. Going through the provided tutorials carefully is recommended.Cell Lab also contains an experimental mode where the user can set the parameters of the environment and put designed organisms in it to see how they multiply (or die). It is also possible to seed this environment with random genomes and once a viable genome has been seeded one can see how it slowly evolves through tiny mutations to an organism well adapted to the environment it is in.It is then possible to change the environment to see how they re-adapt, fast forward the simulation, and finally to save and share it.This simulation is not biologically realistic, all cells in Cell Lab only has one function, to swim, to eat, to collect sunlight, to float, etc . This is not how cells work in nature where one cell can do many things at once. This accuracy has been traded off to be able to make an interesting game. The cells have also been made to multiply very fast, this also for the enjoyment of the user.What is realistic is the evolution taking place in this game. How species adapt to their environment and compete with each other to sometimes attain an equilibrium and sometimes extinction.Features: • 4 tutorials • 45 challenges • 16 types of cells with different functions • 20 cell-modes per genome to program • 22+ parameters in each cell mode • Environment editor with 27 parameters • Simulates and renders up to 1000 cells at decent frame rates • Arbitrary number of cells and petri dish size in advanced mode • Beautifully animated vector graphics that lets you zoom to atomic scales • Save, load and share both environments and genomes • Simulation fast-forward and slow-motion • No advertisements or in-game paymentsAn online forum where Cell Lab can be discussed is available at:http://forum.cell-lab.netThis app needs three permissions: • Internet access. This is required to send bug reports and other anonymous usage data. • Network state. This is required to make sure bug reports and usage data are only sent over wifi to avoid using mobile data. • External Storage. This app needs to be able to read and write external storage so that the user can send and receive samples as email attachments. - 2 new cell type, Ciliocyte and Gamete - Increase from 20 to 40 modes - 6 new substrate parameters - 3 new general genome parameters - 5 different "tools" in microscope - 21 new challenges (Thanks to Alast, Bwisialo, Nayus) - Donate button - 4 new senses - 4 new signal inputs - Performance increase (but more features so not faster on all devices) - Stability increase (tons of bugs fixed, and added for removal in next version) - Simulation logging to file - Many smaller changes

Read trusted reviews from application customers

This should be part of mandatory education because of how vividly it can show you several phenomena and principles that normal life rarely lets you see, experience, and play with.

Alexander Kozhevnikov

A game that actually makes you earn progress. You can't just pay your way through it. If you want to progress you actually need to spend time to learn the mechanics of the game. No ads, no pay wall just an optional donation button, which I'll definitely be using, hidden away in the settings. Overall great game that's enjoyable and really makes you think.

sam

Excellent game. Very satisfying when you design something that lives and reproduces. I have learnt more about cells in 2 hrs playing this game than the previous 40+ combined.

Chris Phar

Genius

Joshua Davis

I am a biology teacher and i am encouraging my students to play this game because it directly teaches them how to become a cytologist at least in very basic sense. Good job developers, i hope you create more improvements in this app.

Dienel Manipol

I do not EVEN KNOW HOW TO USE THIS APP SOMEBODY TELL ME HOW TO USE THIS APP

Austin butts

Tut is hard

A Google user

A truly unique and engaging game. The endless list of 5 star reviews here is not surprising. I have been playing this game for 10-15 hours, and I am still definitely a beginner with potentially hundreds of hours of experimentation and learning left to enjoy. Just like in nature, it's amazing how just a handful of different cell types can be put together to create an infinite variety of creatures, and so the creators of this game really have pulled off an amazing thing.

Peter Dalziel

pretty good, but I have problem with dropdown to choose child mode, I can't choose m1 because it is outside app area. I can't finist tutorial 3 because of that.

Meychel Triarlions

It's like it's really funny can modify also I found the evolution or test Patriots or useful because I evolved away more efficient swimmer in there👍👍👍👍👍

Deep Garewal