Game summary
👥A game for 1 – 5 players
⏳Play time around 45 – 90 minutes
🏢Publisher is Genius Games
Introduction
Did you ever want to be inside a plant cell, where you compete over limited resources in order to undergo photosynthesis, produce carbohydrates, and build the cell wall?
With everyone vying for the same actions, players must time their use of proteins, hormones, and cell component cards to diversify their strategies and outplay the competition. Yes, this seems harder than it looks, and before you know it, players will have played a very lovely game and learned something new along the way.
Let’s get it on the table
Place the Game Board in the center of the play area, showing the side corresponding to the number of players.
Then place the Plant Board nearby with the “Sprout” side up.
Place the Water on the starting space of the Water Level Track and the Gray Action Marker next to the Central Vacuole for the Central Vacuole Majority Reward.
Place the resources within reach of all players. Related to the player count, each player takes the pieces in their player color.
Each player places their Health Point and Central Vacuole Markers on the starting spaces of the corresponding tracks, and places their Plant Growth Markers on the starting spaces of the Shoot Track and Root Track on the Plant Board.
Give the First Player Marker to the last person to water a plant or decide randomly.
Play will proceed clockwise from this player, and subsequent players are given the starting resources.
Shuffle the Cell Component Cards and place the deck face down next to the board, leaving room for a discard pile.
Place 4 cards face up in the spaces on the board. Optionally, assign players the 4 Evening Phase Reminder Tokens to ensure that all Evening Phase steps are completed each round.
Yes, now we’re ready to play Cellulose!
Let’s play
A plant’s cell wall is composed of carbohydrates in the chemical form of cellulose. Running through the center of the game board, the cell wall has spaces where carbohydrates will be placed from left to right. The cell wall is one of the primary ways to score health points, and it determines the length of the game. Players will have opportunities to add their carbohydrates to the cell wall, receiving the health points shown on the space covered. The point values fluctuate, so timing this action well can score more points. During each evening phase, one carbohydrate is added to the next open space on the cell wall. The game ends when the cell wall has been completed; that is, when all of the spaces on the cell wall are covered.
Cellulose is played over a series of rounds, each with the following three phases:
– Sunrise Phase: Players collect Water and Carbon Dioxide income according to the Plant Board. Throughout the game, players will have the chance to advance along the Plant Board Tracks and play cards in order to increase the resources and other bonuses they receive each Sunrise.
– Daytime Phase: Players take turns placing their Action Markers on Action Spaces and immediately taking the corresponding actions.
The following actions are available:
Collect Water (XYLEM)
Collect CO2 (STOMATA)
Make Carbohydrates (CHLOROPLAST)
Build Cell Wall (CELL WALL)
Make ATP (MITOCHONDRIA)
Collect Proteins (RIBOSOMES)
Collect Plant Hormones (CYTOPLASM)
Plant Growth (PLASMA MEMBRANE)
Take first Player Marker (NUCLEUS)
Take Celle Component Cards
Action Spaces are limited, so you must choose carefully. Action Spaces allow you to collect and convert resources, advance on the Plant Board Tracks, contribute to building the Cell Wall, and gain Cell Component Cards.
After a player places an Action Marker, they may play one Cell Component Card from their hand by paying its cost.
– Evening Phase: After all players have placed all their Action Markers, several cleanup steps occur in the Evening Phase in order to refresh the board for the next round.
The Water Level Track on the left side of the board marks the water available for players to collect and use each round. The Water Level Marker is lowered each time players take an action to collect water or CO2. If the Water Level Marker reaches the bottom space, no more water is available for the round. During the Evening Phase, the Water Level Marker resets for the following round. As sections of the Cell Wall are completed, the Water Level will be reset to higher levels, and more water will be available.
Players can add water to the Central Vacuole when performing various actions. When doing so, players place water in the region of the Central Vacuole that matches their player color. In the Evening Phase of each round, Central Vacuole rewards are given for having contributed the most water to the Central Vacuole.
Getting back at the type of Cards, there are as following;
⁃Starch Cards allow you to immediately draw the indicated number of Cell Component Cards from the deck and then discard the indicated number of Cards to the discard pile. You may discard Cards that were in your hand prior to playing the Starch.
⁃Protein Storage Vacuole (PSV) Cards allow you to reclaim 1 of your previously placed Action Markers from an Action Space. In effect, playing PSV Cards gives you extra actions since you will be able to place the Action Marker again later. They also free up Small and Large Action Spaces, providing the possibility of using the same Space multiple times in the same Round.
⁃Enzyme Cards provide a variety of benefits when played; they can be re-activated each time you play a new Enzyme Card. When you play an Enzyme, receive its immediate bonus as normal and place it in front of you. For the rest of the game, Enzymes in your play area can be activated whenever you play a new Enzyme by paying one Protein to gain the activation bonus on the bottom orange bar of the card. In this way, each new Enzyme you play allows you to activate any number of previously played Enzyme Cards, paying one Protein for each Enzyme you wish to activate.
⁃Specialization Cards score Endgame Health Points.
When the Cell Wall is complete during the Cell Wall step of the Evening Phase, the game is over. Note that if the final space on the Cell Wall is covered by a player during the Daytime Phase, players continue the Daytime Phase until all Action Markers have been placed. The Central Vacuole will always score in the final round. Players then have the chance to play any number of Cell Component Cards from their hands, paying costs as normal, but ignoring all abilities and benefits other than the Health Points they score.
This is how you play Cellulose, the plant cell Biology game!
Final Conclusion & rating
Weight: 2.56/ 5
Replayability: 7
Our rating: 7 out of 10 dices
Cellulose is not a game where you need to have any knowledge of biology. It will provide, in a nice way, some new knowledge in this very colourful game.
Each play will let you focus more on the game mechanics than on the theme itself. This gives a nice balance and makes the theme more sensible.
Although the game has its limits in replayability, it will provide a lot of fun in the meantime.
It’s a good choice that the cell wall grows each round, which gives the game the correct gameplay. Even with two players, there are still enough rounds and ways to get in each other’s way.
There are some catchy ways to overcome this biology lesson, especially with the diversity of the cards, which are part of the game. This is the element that makes a player want to achieve and need to be able to win a game. Yes, it’s related to the luck of getting the cards you need. A cleanup face of the cards would have been a nice addition. Nevertheless, you can’t win (grow) it all. 😜
The quality components are very well done. However, with the upgrade pack, the game will get that extra flavour. Because it’s easy to set up, it can be a nice in-between game for some game nights. Of course, with more players, it will take a bit longer, but it’s not a night-filling game. It’s also good to play with kids because of the nice colors and very easy-to-learn rules. So, it will always find a way to the table.
We want to thank Genius Games for this review copy and the opportunity to write about this game
