Cell Lab: Evolution Sandbox 103

Cell Lab is a challenging game that requires critical thinking and experimentation, making it ideal for those who enjoy difficult simulation puzzles. It contains 45 challenges where players must design organisms that can survive in different environments. By solving challenges, players unlock additional genes that can give cells new abilities.

The encoding of the cells' behavior in Cell Lab is intuitive yet requires some effort to understand. It is recommended to go through the provided tutorials carefully in order to grasp the mechanics effectively.

In addition to the challenge mode, Cell Lab also offers an experimental mode where users can set parameters for the environment and observe how their designed organisms multiply or die. There is also an option to seed the environment with random genomes and witness how they evolve through small mutations to adapt to their surroundings.

This simulation is not biologically realistic, as each cell in Cell Lab serves a singular function such as swimming, eating, or collecting sunlight. This trade-off was made to create an engaging game experience. However, the game accurately depicts evolution, highlighting how species adapt and compete to achieve equilibrium or face extinction.

Features of Cell Lab include:

• 4 tutorials
• 45 challenges
• 16 types of cells with different functions
• 20 cell modes per genome for programming
• 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 with zooming capabilities
• Save, load, and share environments and genomes
• Simulation fast-forward and slow-motion
• No advertisements or in-game payments

Cell Lab also provides an online forum for players to discuss the game:
http://forum.cell-lab.net

This app requires three permissions:

• Internet access: Used for sending bug reports and anonymous usage data.
• Network state: Ensures bug reports and usage data are only sent over Wi-Fi, preventing mobile data usage.
• External Storage: Enables the app to read and write external storage, allowing the user to send and receive samples as email attachments.