Cellular Surge
Welcome to Cellular Surge! You will be conducting experiments on unique microbial life. Discover new species, research their effects, and grow your cellular ecosystem!
In Cellular Surge you use various species of microbes to balance the resources of your petri dish. Every species effects the ecosystem differently and you must balance the needs of each cell to grow your populations and complete each experiment.
I'm excited to release Cellular Surge as our first game! Made by me (Kchem.) This game was made for the Go Godot Game Jam 2021. I hope you enjoy!
Advice:
Stuck? Check the comments for a guide!
Want to skip to sandbox mode? Our sandbox can be permanently unlocked for you by beating the game. However, If you just wanna play with your Cellular friends then you can access it by right clicking the bottom right of Level Select screen 3 times, then left clicking the back arrow. Don't tell anyone you heard that from me though.
Every level has a 100% and repeatable solution, but there's often more then one!
Cellular Surge will require careful timing, but don't be afraid to try new combinations of cells and micro-manage your environment!
The Inspector is your friend, right click a cell in the dish to view it's info with the Inspector open, locked cells won't tell you as much, but it's still worth checking.
Watch your resource bars closely, most experiments can be passed simply by keeping the numbers you want up, up, and the numbers you want down, down.
Expect some trial and error, you're likely to fail on the first or second try so you can learn about and master the game!
Credits:
Art and Concept: Kchem
Attribution of freely licensed assets: Clint Bellannger, Fupi, Dizzy Crow, Deva, Phonson, Tom Peter, Kerrie Lake
All third party assets sourced from OpenGameArt.com A wonderful resource.
Comments
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this is a great game, really challenging but still fun
I made Cellular Surge to be a challenging puzzle / resource management game which requires trial and error, but getting stuck is no fun, right? Below you'll find some advice for each level, and a repeatable solution for if you just want to move on or see all the content and unlock sandbox mode. We'll update with guides for the later levels soon, enjoy!
Obligatory spoiler warning:
Level 1:
In the first experiment all you need to worry about is your food meter, you can't go too high or too low, it's safest to keep it between 18-22%.
Towards the end of the level, your Nutritious cells (which produce food) won't be able to keep up with the mystery cells which drain it so it's best to stock pile early on.
Just wanna win?
Place one Nuetrios cell to start, your food will start to increase slowly, when it starts to decrease, place more Nuetrios cells until it is trending upwards again, continue until you're out of cells and you can now coast the rest of the level!
Level 2:
In the second level you have another variable to maintain! You've probably noticed the new mystery cells drain water. Good thing you discovered the Clarus cells, they'll require 8% food (as indicated by right clicking one with the inspector) so place some Nutrios to get started, now place your Clarus cells. You don't have a limit on how many cells you can place or kill, so adjust the environment as you need!
Be careful not to poison your Nutrios cells as the CO2 in this environment is already high, luckily your mystery cells seem to help balance this number and you'll be fine as long as you're not crowding the dish with Nutrios cells.
Just want to win?
I've found a good ratio is 3 Nutrios to 4 Clarus cells. This ratio will support itself, replicate as needed to keep the water amounts from dipping below 10%
Level 3:
In the third level you're introduced to the first special cell, this mystery cell Fikem cell will split microbes which come in to contact with it. This is how you will grow a total population of 15 with only the materials for 5 cells!
Spawning a cell from your tray directly on or next to a mystery cell is a good way to get extra bang for your buck, but keep in mind there is a cool down. This level can be tricky as the movement of your microbes is unpredictable, make use of the kill tool to prune any Cells which are over populating your dish.
Just want to win?
Wait till the mystery cells are separated, place a Nuetrios cell down near one, and a Clarus cell near the other, wait untill these populations have grown to 5, careful not to let Nuetrios get out of control, and then use your remaining cells to place Algeo on each breeding cell.
Level 4:
This level requires you to produce a substantial amount of both food and water, it can be hard to maintain a stable eco system with the limited resources available, Keep in mind the ratios you've learned from the past levels. This is your first level without a mystery cell! instead you've been "given" the Gerbos cell, these cells will seek out and kill other cells.
Just want to win?
This is not the quickest solution but it is the easiest, place a Gerbos cell near one of the patches of Nutrios cells, let it kill 3 cells before using the kill tool on it. There are faster solutions too if you're the type to micro your resources, but this is the most reliable method. After the jam we hope to introduce a timer to the game so you can show off your speed runs!
Level 5:
In the fifth experiment, you have two forces working against each other Water, and Tempature. Your goal is to raise the tempature high enough that Clarus cells evaporate, by growing Mystery cells. These mystery cells however can't survive if water levels get too high first. Use Fikem cells to split these mystery cells, beware they don't deplete their CO2 though, use some Nuetrios cells to balance this.
Just want to win?
Place 1-3 Fikem cells near the mystery cells, if you see Clarus cells approaching them, place a Nutrios cell to block it's path. Add more Nutrios cells if you see that CO2 levels are draining.
Level 6:
You need at least 16 of these mystery cells, however, you can't let your Nutrios cells die! And they're about to freeze... Use your newly unlocked Haut cells to keep the tempature balanced.
Just want to win?
Place 2 Haut cells and a Nutrios cell, after a few duplication of the mystery cells, place a Fikem cell near your Haut cells, if they start moving towards the mystery cells, or duplicate a cell you didn't intend, use your kill tools.
Level 7:
Entropy will slowly build up, the more cells you have the faster it builds. After hitting 60 Entropy, new mystery cells will start entering the dish. You can use any of the combinations of cells you have so far to produce a stable ecosystem, keep in mind these mystery cells will suck up entropy, meaning you'll need to have some momentum built up by the time you hit 60%
Just want to win?
Use the 3 Nuetrios, 4 Clarus, 5 Algeo ratio. Scale this up untill you have 9, 12, 15. There are other, likely faster perfect ratios you can use as well, this is just the simples