Cellulose: A Plant Cell Biology Game

In Cellulose: A Plant Cell Biology Game by Genius Games, we are building our game engine in a plant cell.

Genius Games brings us games in a scientific context that allows you to learn something. This time we will learn about a plant cell and engage in photosynthesis.

Besides the game rules, we also get a book about the science behind cellulose.

At the start of the game we are all given 3 erlenmeyer flasks that we can use as workers during the game.

Each round starts with the sunrise phase where we get income depending on where our chips are on the plant in the form of water and CO2.

Starting with the starting player, we each take a turn and deploy one of our Erlenmeyer’s to do an action. On the small squares only 1 person can stand, but on large squares more players can stand. But only one of each colour stand there at a time.

We can fetch water and optionally store water in the central vacuole.

In the Stomata we can collect CO2.

In the Chloroplast, we can make carbohydrates with 6 water and 6 CO2.

We can use these to build the cell wall. Building the cell wall earns many points and is also a timer that determines the end of the game.
In addition to collecting cards, we can also collect ATP and proteins that help play our cards. These can give us extra points and benefits.

Cytoplasm will help us improve our plant so that we get better income every round.

And we can also become the starting player.

After each turn you may play a card, if you can pay the cost price. There are 4 different types, each one giving different benefits.

When everyone has deployed all their workers, we move to the evening phase. Then we take back all the workers, and award points and “grey” worker(s) from the Vacuole. The cell wall also grows each evening.

When the cell wall is complete, the game ends and we count the points. The player with the most points wins.