Mitosis Demo

Although evolution sounds like a pretty straightforward process, it’s anything but that, since a lot of it is based on chance. Organisms tend to evolve in order to keep up with their environment, but sometimes mutations appear by chance, and they are perpetuated because they just so happen to be useful in some way. Nature may know what it’s doing most of the time, but there’s always a random element to it as well.

Mitosis is a very interesting project, and the idea behind it is not as complex as you might think. In a nutshell, this is a sandbox game in which your task is to grow cells and manipulate the environment around them in order to induce certain traits or mutations. Just like in nature, on the other hand, these mutations are not always predictable, so your plans might not work as intended.

In fact, the whole game uses machine learning algorithms to generate mutations, which is a lot closer to nature than your typical conditional programming. As such, the cells under your supervision evolve according to a complex set of rules, making every experience unique. Obviously, there are some things you can predict or at least expect, but there are certainly no scripts that force you onto a specific path.

Since you play the role of a microbiologist, you also have some of their tools at your disposal. Besides the recipient used to house the cells, you also have access to thermostats to control the temperature, food to feed the cells in order to keep them alive, as well as a few other nifty tools that come in handy in different situations.

Even if the concept sounds pretty complex at first, it’s worth noting that the game is designed to be as accessible as possible to anyone. There’s an in-depth tutorial to get you started, and the user interface is mostly drag-and-drop. You can even earn achievements and star ratings after every completed level, which makes everything feel a lot more like a casual puzzle game.

In the end, as long as the algorithms used by Mitosis are actually doing their job properly and the experience is different for every playthrough, this is a glowing example of great game concepts. The whole thing is nicely wrapped in an accessible package, which makes it a viable option for any type of gamer.