Imagine being fully engaged in a computer game, racing through decayed cityscapes, evading zombies infected with cordyceps, or strategizing in complex chess matches. Now, picture a twist on this gaming experience where your rivals are not just human players or digital avatars, but living microorganisms like bacteria, yeasts, and fungi. This innovative approach adds a new layer to gameplay.

Biotic Games, or hybrid bio-digital games, offer such unique experiences. This emerging genre combines real biological components with digital gaming. Players typically manipulate living microorganisms using different stimuli, such as light, chemicals, and electrical fields. These interactions are then represented as virtual characters on gaming displays, often broadcasted live. Their engaging nature has attracted a diverse audience, including biology students, artists, and designers who are eager to explore the interplay between humans and the microscopic world.

My introduction to biotic games occurred a few years ago when I encountered the captivating designs from Ingmar Riedel-Kruse’s lab, which gained popularity on social media. One of their most fascinating creations is the game platform called LuduScope. In this game, the opponent is not a typical character but a living organism known as "Euglena" (Euglena gracilis). These tiny creatures, barely visible to the naked eye, are sensitive to light and instinctively avoid it. The brilliance of LuduScope and its game Euglena PacMan lies in utilizing this unique characteristic.

Gameplay involves a series of nudges and controls: players guide Euglena by directing light through a joystick embedded with LED bulbs. By maneuvering the joystick, players send light in various directions, prompting the Euglena to swim away from the light source. The action is captured through a smartphone camera and displayed on-screen, creating an augmented reality experience. This captivating blend of biology and technology allows players to interact in real-time with these microorganisms using a smartphone and joystick.

Why focus on microbes, you might ask? There are several compelling reasons.

One significant motivation, especially for Riedel-Kruse’s team, is education and scientific research. Their aim is to introduce the intriguing behaviors of organisms like Euglena in a fun yet informative way. For example, LuduScope not only promotes gameplay but also facilitates the documentation, online sharing, and analysis of Euglena behaviors, merging education with entertainment in a concept termed (biotic) edutainment.

Additionally, Zahid Hossain and his colleagues have expanded the concept of edutainment by exploring similar educational methods with the slime mold Physarum Polycephalum. This innovative approach seeks to enhance playful and interactive biology experiments while addressing various obstacles like training, costs, safety, logistics, and space limitations. They introduced a cloud-based experimentation setup, allowing users to conduct diverse experiments remotely and interactively.

Others are drawn to biotic games simply for their novelty. The unusual aesthetics and unique forms of microbes captivate people, and the fact that these organisms are alive adds an extra layer of intrigue, reflecting our innate curiosity and attraction to living things.

For my own Ph.D. research project, I chose to design and play a biotic game, resulting in the creation of Mould Rush, which fosters playful interactions between human players and the microbial realm.

I describe this game as a hybrid of physical and virtual online multiplayer strategy, played on slowly evolving landscapes formed by living microorganisms in the form of common household "mold." As the mold grows in various colors and shapes across a nutrient-rich agar matrix, an automated high-resolution flatbed scanner captures regular images of its development. This creates a continuous stream of images that players can observe in real-time, albeit at a slow pace.

The transition from one image to the next is live-streamed on Twitch, where the game is played and moderated. Mould Rush made history as the first biotic game to be live-streamed on Twitch, debuting on June 13, 2018.

The objective of Mould Rush is to compete with fellow Twitch viewers to collect as many microbial cells as possible over five days. Players use a virtual grid overlay to select segments containing cells by sending commands through the Twitch chat. Points are awarded based on the coverage of cells in the chosen segment, calculated using image processing tools like Open CV.

Players can also physically kill and clone cells from their chosen segments to strategically attack opponents and expand their colonies. These actions are executed by the moderator during the live gameplay using manual laboratory techniques like micro-pipetting and sterile loop inoculation.

My goal in designing Mould Rush was for players to learn fundamental microbiology concepts—such as cell culturing, colony morphology, and colony behavior—while also engaging in a fun experience.

In addition to its educational value, Mould Rush encourages players to appreciate the natural slow pace of microbial growth and its inherent beauty. It cultivates skills in memory, observation, patience, and perseverance.

The slow growth pace means that player actions do not yield immediate visual feedback, a trait common in traditional video games. Microbial or fungal growth is only visible to the naked eye after hours of incubation, and some species take even longer, requiring players to practice patience to see the results of their commands.

Comparing Mould Rush to other slow games, it resembles turn-based games like Correspondence Chess, played via mail or forums, or modern creations like Ishac Bertran’s Slow Games, which consist of physical cubic consoles with minimal interfaces that allow only one move per day. Slowing the game's pace reduces the need for quick reflexes and intense focus, inviting players to challenge their memory, observation, and patience.

Biology is also inherently chaotic. In Mould Rush, microorganisms thrive in relaxed conditions on non-selective media, allowing diverse species to flourish. This results in a visually unpredictable mix of microbial communities, enhancing gameplay dynamics and helping players stay visually engaged, even in a slow-paced environment.

Looking ahead, the future of biotic gaming appears promising. With the rise of the global Do It Yourself (DIY) biology movement, the tools and materials for biotechnology are becoming more accessible and affordable, particularly for those outside conventional laboratories.

Advancements in digital technology also present rich opportunities for biotic gaming. Given the continuous nature of Mould Rush sessions, making the game available on smart devices could significantly enhance player experience, allowing gameplay anytime and anywhere with internet access. Furthermore, the cloud storage system in Mould Rush enables players to analyze growth images remotely, away from the actual microorganisms. This system could benefit players of similar biotic games, especially if they evolve into educational or research applications generating scientific data. Recent developments in cloud-based labs designed for real-time remote biological experimentation provide insight into this potential. Additionally, internet-based biotic gaming could facilitate safe off-site gameplay, minimizing harmful biological interactions.

Traditionally feared yet fascinating, microbes can now be easily explored from the comfort of home with accessible materials. Why not give it a try? Your gaming adversaries no longer need to be limited to virtual foes but can include real living colonies of fungi.

Before diving in, check out this publication by Lukas Gerber and colleagues for guidance on identifying interesting microbes and their behaviors, along with tips for setting up your biotic game. Enjoy the adventure!