January 5, 2014 · all, science, bacteria, outreach, games
Bacteria! the video game (beta)
Are you a microbiologist? Do you just play a lot of video games? I'm looking for suggestions for how to make the game more educational and fun. Let me know your ideas!
Already implemented:
- Physics -- environmental parameters allow setting the viscosity and diffusivity of the environment by changing the Temperature and Salinity
- Respiration -- you lose energy just sitting there, so go forth and forage
- Extracellular Enzymes -- use these to access food particles that are too big to ingest. you gotta spend ATP to make ATP!
- Motility -- run and tumble, run and tumble, ruuuuuuuuun and tumble. takes energy. also, damn it's frustrating being a bacterium.
- Division -- double your energy reserves and you automatically divide. when you die you are resurrected as one of your offspring
- Predators -- watch out, the protists are coming!
Here is what I'm looking forward to adding:
- Viruses! -- they can kill you, but every once in a while, you're hit with a transducing phage and can access...
- Horizontal Gene Transfer! -- this will allow upgrades like Chemotaxis, Antibiotics, Degradation Enzymes, Photosynthesis, Chemosynthesis, Nitrogen Fixation, Psychrophily, Thermophily, Barophily, Halophily, EPS production, Transformation, Conjugation, CRISPRs, Quorum Sensing, ...
- Environments -- seawater, sea ice, glaciers, hydrothermal vents, streams, soil, guts, teeth
- Species -- play as Vibrio, Bdellovibrio, Prochlorococcus, Pelagibacter, or Pyrococcus!
- High Scores -- but then, I'd first have to decide what the "goal" of life was and I don't know if I'm ready to make such a strong statement!
- Music -- wouldn't a little ambient electronic music interpreted from DNA sequences really go with the mood of existential angst that permeates the lives of bacteria?
Built (somewhat painfully) in Stencyl.