Cell Game

Cell Game is a free cell biology game you play in your browser. Build an animal cell, a plant cell and a bacterium one part at a time, run three cell factory jobs, then test yourself in a timed microscope quiz. It’s a quick way to learn the parts of a cell, with no download or sign-up.

How to play

The game has three parts, and you can jump between them with the tabs at the top or pick any level from the Menu.

Build a cell

• Drag a part from the tray into the cell outline, or tap a part and then tap inside the cell. If the cell really has that part, it snaps into place and you get a one-line fact about what it does.
• Each tray also holds parts that don’t belong. Drop a chloroplast or a cell wall into an animal cell, or a nucleus into a bacterium, and it’s sent back with a short reason. That counts as a wrong drop.
• Dropping a part outside the outline just returns it to the tray with no penalty.
• Finish with no wrong drops for 3 stars, one or two for 2 stars, and more for 1 star.

The animal cell has 11 parts: nucleus, cell membrane, cytoplasm, mitochondria, ribosomes, rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, small vacuoles and centrioles. The plant cell swaps lysosomes, small vacuoles and centrioles for a cell wall, chloroplasts and a large central vacuole. The bacterium has only six: a cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, ribosomes, a nucleoid where its DNA sits, and a flagellum.

Cell factory

Each job is a short chain of steps shown as shuffled buttons. Tap them in the right order and a numbered route appears on the cell diagram.

• Make a protein: DNA in the nucleus, an mRNA copy leaves, a ribosome builds the protein, the rough ER folds it, the Golgi packages it, and a vesicle carries it to the membrane.
• Make energy: glucose enters, is split in the cytoplasm, moves into a mitochondrion, is broken down using oxygen, and the energy is stored in ATP.
• Photosynthesis: light reaches the leaf, chlorophyll absorbs it, water is split and oxygen is released, carbon dioxide is turned into glucose, and the glucose is used or stored as starch.

Microscope quiz

Three rounds of 10 questions, each with 60 seconds on the clock. Round 1 shows an animal or plant cell with four numbered parts and asks you to name one. Round 2 puts a cell under the microscope and asks if it’s an animal cell, a plant cell or a bacterium. Round 3 asks quick cell facts. Score 9 or 10 for 3 stars, 7 or 8 for 2 stars and 5 or 6 for 1 star.

Your stars and best quiz scores are saved in your browser.

Tips

• Learn the three plant-only parts. A cell wall made of cellulose, chloroplasts and a large central vacuole are the quickest way to tell a plant cell from an animal cell.
• Look for the nucleus first. In the microscope round, a cell with no nucleus and its DNA loose in the cytoplasm is a bacterium. Bacteria are prokaryotes, so they have no membrane-bound organelles at all.
• Plant cells still have mitochondria. Chloroplasts make glucose, but mitochondria are what release the energy from it, in plants and animals alike.
• Follow the protein’s path. Instructions start in the nucleus, ribosomes build the protein, and the Golgi apparatus ships it out. Remember that order and the factory job is easy.
• Read the reasons. Every rejected part and every quiz answer comes with a short why, so a wrong answer still teaches you something.

FAQ

Is Cell Game free?

Yes. It’s free to play in any modern browser, with no account and nothing to install.

What is the difference between a plant cell and an animal cell?

Both keep their DNA in a nucleus and both have mitochondria. Plant cells also have a cellulose cell wall, chloroplasts for photosynthesis and a large central vacuole full of cell sap. Animal cells have none of those, but they do have centrioles, which most plant cells lack.

Why does the bacterium reject the nucleus?

Bacteria have no nucleus. Their DNA sits in a region of the cytoplasm called the nucleoid, with no membrane around it.

Can I play it on a phone or Chromebook?

Yes. Drag or tap on a touch screen, or use the keyboard: Left and Right pick a part, Enter drops it, number keys tap the factory steps and answer quiz questions, and R restarts a level.

Enjoy science puzzles? Try the experiment stations in our Science Game, or give your memory a workout with Brain Game.