Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗Cellscape
ProtozoaPrincess · Published by Kate Solbakk
Last updated 8 Oct 2026
Experience life as a microbe in a dynamic, living ecosystem. Hunt bacteria, dodge hazards and predators, and divide as many times as you can!
Indie, Casual · 2027 · More free games
Explore a living world as a tiny microbe in Cellscape. Hunt for prey and outmaneuver threats while dividing to survive in this casual adventure from ProtozoaPrincess.
About this game
You are a tiny protist in a disturbed patch of soil. You're the only one of your kind left, but for you as a microbe, that doesn't have to mean extinction. All you need to do now is eat, divide, and try not to get eaten!
The ecosystem around you has been thrown into chaos, but it's slowly repairing itself. Bacteria are actively rebuilding the soil by gluing tiny particles into larger clusters, creating a more complex habitat that increases biodiversity. You'll have to navigate a continuously changing ecosystem with a variety of predators, hazards, and resources.
As a small flagellate, you're low on the food chain and have limited abilities. Your success will come from observation, knowledge and strategy rather than strength.
Creatures in Cellscape respond to each other and to the habitat. Each species has a niche, and they divide based on how much they eat of their preferred food. That means each run is unique, based on ecology rather than random chance. You might play one round that is full of small flagellates and few predators, and the next could be swarming with seemingly passive, but surprisingly dangerous Colpodas. Sometimes you'll get lucky with helpful biofilms that give huge advantages, and sometimes they're just toxic. The more you come to understand the ecosystem, however, the better you'll be able to thrive no matter what kind of habitat you find yourself in.
Cellscape is designed for single runs with ecological systems, making it highly replayable. Core game mechanics are easy to learn, and take a nonviolent approach to survival in the world of microbes. The gameplay can be almost meditative, despite the ever-present risk of being recycled. Cellscape is about making your way as a tiny creature with a short life near the bottom of the food chain.
There will be various game modes to choose from, with a range of score categories that allow for different play styles. Timed challenges focus on maximizing divisions in the given time, whereas Endless modes let you choose between playing carefully to survive as long as possible or taking risks to maximize your division rate.
More game modes are planned, including a relax mode, aquarium mode and adjustable difficulty levels.
Planned features:
Many more types of bacteria, flagellates, and predators
More unique hazards such as viruses and parasites
Plant roots creating special zones with various environmental effects
Fungi
More game modes
Steam achievements!
Note to Content Creators:
This game uses licensed music that may trigger automated copyright claims on platforms like YouTube/Twitch. You can mute the background music in audio settings to avoid any potential issues. Music is licensed via Uppbeat.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS *: Windows 7 SP1+
- Processor: Dual-core CPU (Intel/AMD) @ 2.0 GHz
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: DX10, DX11, or DX12-capable GPU
- DirectX: Version 10
- Storage: 300 MB available space
Recommended
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Quad-core processor (Intel or AMD)
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Dedicated GPU (NVIDIA GTX 660 / AMD Radeon HD 7870 or better)
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 300 MB available space
Supported Languages
Latest news
AnnouncementsOfficial
Cellscape Official Release Date
Hello everyone, I have big news today!Cellscape will release on January 12, 2027. It will launch directly into 1.0 instead of Early Access.It’s been quite a journey since I started creating Cellscape in January 2025. Initially I expected this to be a very simple game, something on the level of Flappy Bird. I thought I’d spend a couple of months on it and either release a silly little experimental project, or decide that game dev is not for me and go back to my normal work.Now it’s been almost two years of focusing heavily on this project, and there is still so much I want to do. I’m absolutely enchanted by the process of game development. I can’t begin to describe how much I love working on Cellscape, and how proud I am of what it’s turning into. Turning my own artwork into something alive and interactive really feels magical.Why Not Early Access?Cellscape is now reaching a point where I can see the complete game taking shape. For most of this year I’ve been saying I’d release in Early Access toward the end of the year. However, the more I think about it, the more I’m not sure what the point of Early Access would actually be. My plan was essentially to release the game in a reasonably complete state, just needing to be filled out more. Then later, there would be a full release. The thing is, I don’t have plans to stop development after the 1.0 release. I have many years worth of ideas in mind, so I’d have to just pick some arbitrary point and say “ok, now it’s released”, but I’d still continue working on it after that, so calling it 1.0 wouldn’t really mean anything in practice.So I feel it makes more sense to release directly to 1.0, and I'm confident that I can have the core game ready by mid-January. Cellscape already has a solid gameplay structure and only needs a few additional major systems like achievements and character customization unlocks to feel like a complete game. Further development will continue beyond that initial release point, with the goal of ad...Read full article on Community Announcements (Tuxi)AnnouncementsOfficial
2026 Roadmap for Cellscape
Hi everyone!Here is a tentative outline of major development goals I'm aiming for during this year. I didn't include dates because it's impossible to know how long each thing will take, and many things are likely to change along the way. Some of this probably won't make it into the initial early access release, but that just means it will come soon after that.Cellscape 2026 Roadmap 1. Finish Basic Virus SystemAt least 2 player viruses with different effectsHalteria cures viruses2. New CreaturesPossible new ciliates:CyclidiumVorticellaCinetochilumEuplotesVarious new flagellatesMore biofilm-associated bacteria with special effects3. Fungi & "Locked Food"Fungal spores & hyphaeUsing eg. enzymes to access special loot stuck in decomposing plant materialSpores can clear biofilms4. Nematodes & RotifersLarge creatures to cause major disturbance and late-game challenges5. Achievements & SavingSteam AchievementsAbility to save your session and continue later6. Early Access ReleaseLate 2026Plan for Early AccessOnce Cellscape is in early access I plan to expand the game horizontally, so adding more depth and variety in existing systems. I'll also be adding more game modes like relax and aquarium modes, QoL things like difficulty settings, etc. Once all that feels good I want to expand forward with eg. more complex soil structure development and new systems like interacting with plant roots before finally reaching the full release.Demo StatusThe demo is still available and will likely stay up for a while. However, since I'm a solo dev I need to choose priorities carefully, so I've decided to focus on the game itself and not try to keep the demo updated along the way. If at some point the demo feels too different and no longer effectively represents the game, I'll most likely take it down instead of building a new version of it. But if you're enjoying the demo don't worry, that probably won't happen until much closer to the early access release.Playtesting OpportunitiesPlease joi...Read full article on Community Announcements (Tuxi)AnnouncementsOfficial
Demo is now playable!
There is now a free demo available for Cellscape, in preparation for the upcoming Next Fest. The demo will be available for some time after the event as well.You'll be able to play the timed game mode in 5 minute runs, but you can play as many runs as you want.If you have feedback on the demo, please join the Discord or post in the discussion forums here on steam.Thanks for playing!KateRead full article on Community Announcements (ProtozoaPrincess)AnnouncementsOfficial
Join the First Playtest!
Join the very first playtest for Cellscape!For this test I'm mostly interested in the beginning part of the game. I want to know if it runs well on your machine, if you find any major issues, and your general first impressions and thoughts about it.Please note this is not a demo of the complete game; some systems have been disabled to keep the test more focused.How to join:Click the Request Access button on the store page to participate.Join the Discord for more info, to connect and share feedback, and let me know about any issues you find.Thanks for joining, and have fun!Read full article on Community Announcements (Tuxi)Patch NotesOfficial
Summer Progress Update
Hey everyone!Cellscape has come a long way over the last months, and it feels like a good time to let you in on some of the recent developments.Parallax BackgroundI've been working on a huge, multi-layered scenery painting which will create a cool parallax background. The painting isn't completely finished yet, but it looks like it will work nicely!Settings MenuI've added a settings menu with various options to let you customize your game experience. This isn't completely finished or polished yet (control options and many graphics settings are still missing), but it's in a good place for now.Settings added so far:GameplayShow/hide timerShow/hide cursor during gameplayAllow the game to continue running when not the active windowGraphicsScreen modeParallax toggle (in case of motion sickness)AudioEnable/disable all sounds and musicSeparate volume sliders and toggles for music, sound effects, and UI sounds.Game Timer and ScoringThe game now keeps track of your highest score, and I’ve added a timer to track the duration of your run. The timer can be hidden in the settings if you'd rather not feel the pressure of a ticking clock!Pathogen MechanicSometimes predator populations can be a bit much! While this is fun to see and quite realistic, it's not ideal for gameplay, since it can make huge areas totally inaccessible with nothing you can do about it. Instead of changing reproduction rates, I decided to add a new pathogen mechanic to put a natural limit on predators.When Colpoda populations reach a certain threshold, a small number of virus particles start drifting around. On contact with a susceptible cell, the virus triggers an infection. The infected cell changes colour, becomes unable to eat, and slowly stops moving. The infection is also contagious! When the cell dies, it releases a small burst of short-lived secondary virus particles, which can trigger a chain reaction if there are many others close by.While virus particles float around and passively infect Colpodas ...Read full article on Community Announcements (Tuxi)
