◉ MINIMAL CELL ATLAS

Table call · audio & videoUp to 4 players

Speak and hear everyone in your private room. Video is optional; your microphone and camera turn on only when you enable them.

Call activation is pending.

This opens a private audio/video room for up to four players. Each player has a separate local board; board moves are not synchronized yet. The host must approve guests. Microphone and camera stay off until each player enables them. This site does not record the call.

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The factory board · solo or 2 to 4 players · 28 board spaces

Who builds the first working factory?

Start with 50,000 Rays in your personal bank and explore 28 spaces: 16 main systems and 12 protein machines. Machine entry costs 1,200 Rays: answer three access questions correctly across your turns to unlock it; one wrong answer loses the fee and passes the die. Claim two fields to unlock main-system laboratories. In a laboratory, bank after a correct answer or carry the stake to your next turn. Three correct answers across your turns unlock an optional fourth jackpot on your next turn: win it to complete that system. Quality control at Level 3 is different: buy a three-question entry attempt, then bank all 17 inspection checkpoints, with one question per turn, with stakes carried between turns. Complete 16 checkpoints to advance from Volume I to II to III. The first player to complete all 16 systems at Level 3 wins.

The question behind the game. Each part depends on the others. Energy has to drive the lines, information has to specify the machines, and the machines have to build the lines. Which of these could exist before a factory does? Each bay asks you to decide.

Buy quiz accessPay 1,200 Rays on a protein-machine space. Three correct answers across your turns unlock the machine; one miss loses the fee.

Take it or risk itCorrect answers add 1,500 Rays to an unclaimed prize. Banking pays you; a miss forfeits unclaimed Rays and fields. In an unlocked machine’s advanced quiz, Rays earned are banked immediately and remain safe.

LaboratoriesTwo claimed fields unlock main-system laboratories. Land on a main system and win its fourth-question jackpot to complete it.

Licences and rentThe first licence holder collects 500 Rays when another player lands there. Other players can still complete their own challenges.

Build and trade with the bankProteins cost 1,200 Rays for one building point. A metabolic pathway costs 13,500 Rays for three points in Energy or Production lines.

Events and evidenceGrants and deliveries can increase a prize; market events offer discounts. The quarantine corner costs three of your turns or 3,000 Rays. Demonstrated functions, proposed groupings and open origins questions are labelled.

Starting volume Players

A race to build a working cell

The Factory Board Game

One question per turn. Bank the prize or carry your stake. Land on square 7 for an all-player Factory Challenge.

Solo vs computer Players & rules

The 16-section journey

Start with 50,000 Rays in your personal bank; use Take 5,000 at your corner to fund your cash. Machine quiz entry costs 1,200 Rays; all 3 answers must be correct. Claim two fields to unlock main laboratories. Land on a main system, answer three questions, then win its fourth-question jackpot to complete that section. Quality control at Level 3 uses its own three-question entry and 17-checkpoint inspection floor.

Swipe the board sideways to explore all spaces. Turn controls are below.

16 colour groups · systems and their protein machines

Matching colour bands and group numbers show which machines belong to each system. The six factory compartments remain the broader functional categories.

Factory portfolios

Correct answers earn Rays, access and ownership.

THE FIRST EDITION · 100 CARDS

Your factory, one card at a time.

Collect licences. Build with resources. Discover opportunities. Solve factory challenges.

100 cards

ONE CELL FACTORY · 1,051 proteins in the chosen game model · 16 systems · 1,051,000 Rays. The 12 protein-machine licences belong inside those systems; their values are included, never added on top. The proposed allocation below uses 1,000 Rays per protein allocation unit. It is a game budget, not a verified strain-specific protein inventory. Quiz entry fees are separate. Trading is not enabled yet.

One factory · 16 system totals · 1,051,000 Rays

Proposed game allocation: all 1,051 protein units are assigned once among the 16 systems. Broader networks receive larger provisional allocations. The indented machine values are included within their parent system, not extra proteins or extra factory value. Machine values are teaching-game weights, not subunit counts. Actual multifunctional proteins and shared machinery require explicit counting rules in a biological inventory.

Solo mode uses a local computer opponent with a 65% chance of choosing the game’s keyed answer. It is not a live ChatGPT connection.

Roll two dice

Roll to start the shift.

Factory bank

Ordinary challenges: each correct answer adds 1,500 Rays to an unclaimed prize. Advanced machine rounds: Rays are banked immediately and stay safe if you miss.

Build a compartment

Monomers

Game model: build your factory with proteins and pathways; rent on owned spaces pays their owner 500 Rays. Win by completing all 16 jackpot sections. Proteins cost less; metabolic pathways fill Energy or Production lines faster. Rays and points do not measure real biological complexity.

SYSTEM 12 · QUALITY CONTROL

Quality control

Keep the chemical factory working. Inspect its RNA, maintain its ribosomes, help its proteins fold, and recover useful components.

Banked checkpoints0 / 17

Unbanked prize0 Rays

Builder cash0 Rays

Consecutive misses0 / 3

QUALITY CONTROL · INSPECTION FLOOR

BUILD A
RELIABLE FACTORY

17 learning checkpoints · one main system.
The cell is a chemical factory.
You build it first, and you win.

How to win this laboratory

In the main game, reach Level 3, claim two fields and land on Quality control. One entry attempt costs 1,200 Rays. Answer all three entry questions correctly.
After access, choose an unfinished checkpoint. A correct answer adds a pending checkpoint and Rays to your prize. Bank and pass, or risk another question. Three correct answers is the limit for one turn.
The first six banked checkpoints earn 1,500 Rays each; the next six earn 2,500; the last five earn 4,000. Difficulty rises with progress.
A wrong answer loses the unbanked prize and pending checkpoints. Earlier banked progress and Rays stay safe. No additional coins are charged.
Three consecutive wrong checkpoint answers revoke lab access and reset that laboratory’s checkpoint progress. A correct checkpoint answer breaks the losing streak. Earn entry again with a new paid attempt.
Bank all 17 checkpoints to complete Quality control, one of the 16 main systems required to win the Level 3 factory. Practice preview changes no game balances or achievements.

Prices, rewards, ownership and learning progress are game rules. The 17 entries are quality-control branches, not necessarily distinct metabolic pathways. Demonstrated functions, proposed model choices and open membership questions are labelled in the answer explanations.

Books and scientific references

The books supply the registered source lists; the linked research supports particular mechanisms. Comparative references do not select members for this proposed cell.

Educational game. Rays, prices and licences are game rules. Claims are labelled demonstrated, proposed or open. Translation reference ↗ · Transcription reference ↗

Waiting for the call host

Call host controls

Who builds the first working factory?

The Factory Board Game

Factory portfolios

Your factory, one card at a time.

Quality control

BUILD A
RELIABLE FACTORY

Waiting for the call host

Call host controls

Who builds the first working factory?

The Factory Board Game

Factory portfolios

Your factory, one card at a time.

Quality control

BUILD ARELIABLE FACTORY

BUILD A
RELIABLE FACTORY