Greetings Universe Architects,

In the last days of summer, we shared our game at AnimeNYC. There, players got to play an early version of Explore: Rocks — Set in Stone, that we released last week.

We’ve been on a roll with Explore Events. We went from having a new one every six months to five this year (with more to come). We are really proud of this accomplishment, and we see it as a testament to the team's enthusiasm and hard work.

We also completed our first ever Explore Event partnerships. For the first one, we teamed up with Brooklyn based Pariah Studios to create Explore: Visual Art — The Power of Images. Later that summer we did a brand partnership with YouTube influencer TierZoo for Explore: Cats — A Feline Journey. It was exciting to collaborate with these creatives and develop something cooler than each of us could have made on our own.

Last week we released yet another new event, Explore: Rocks — Set in Stone. It was inspired by an April Fool’s joke we made in 2021. After seeing the joke, a surprisingly large number of fans tirelessly advocated for a Geology event, and three years later we were able to make their dream a reality (as well as share this topic with new players).

Get spooky! In honor of our favorite chilly season, we are working on a different type of Explore Event. We’ve never done this type of content before and we are curious to hear what fans think of it. We'll be talking more about it in our upcoming October livestream, so stay tuned.

Outside of Explore Events, the Beyond is still in the works. We will soon be releasing Episode 26, with Episode 27 slated to release before the end of this year. Beyond Phase II is coming to a close with its current stage of development. Our amazing beta players have already seen a sneak peak of some of the content coming up. It will take time before all that content will be available to all players, but not to worry— it is not the end. As we take a pause with the Beyond, we will be reevaluating in what shape or form more space content will be developed. Space is still #relevant.

Another piece of content that will go on pause is Civilization in the Primary Tree Simulation. As players remember, we started renovating the Ancient Civilization garden in October of 2023. Following the renovation, we also added new content to the Primary Simulation tree with new Augmentations to purchase. The release of the Age of Exploration closes out the Ancient Civilization track with Scientific revolution moving into the Modern Civilization track. We will use the time to focus on features and bugs that players have been requesting for a while. For example, quality of life improvements, first-time player experience, Main Simulation tree tuning, old prevalent bugs and much more. We're excited to be working with our beta testers on these important updates. For those interested, follow the instructions on our official subreddit.

Lastly, to reflect the amount of work we’ve accomplished over the past months, here is an updated roadmap along with features we are currently working on. Our last roadmap was in April. We're happy to say that we've hit our goal in running more contests, and we hope everyone who's participated in them so far has been having fun. We want to give our players the opportunity to showcase their talents in different areas. We also accept feedback and requests regarding future contest ideas. As a reminder, roadmaps are scheduled to go out two times a year. Dev diaries are scheduled once every quarter, a total of four per year. The next one will be in December.

We’re grateful to each of our players for your continued support of our game, especially to our beta players who test rough versions of features we are working on. Cells is going through a time of change with exciting new updates on the horizon. We look forward to sharing this journey with our greatest community ever and we always look forward to your feedback.

Stay cellular and cozy!
- The Cells Team

Hi Universe Architects,

Let’s rock and roll! We’ve been listening to many player requests over the years asking us to turn an April Fool’s joke into a reality. Now rocks and minerals have finally joined the simulation, and we can’t wait to get down to the nitty gritty.

Are you ready for this?

The research in this Explore Event is rock solid. Start at the earthly origins of Minerals, and work your way up through the rock cycle to reach the glistening beauty of crystals.

• Collect 48 new Research Nodes and discover their components.
  
• Upgrade 6 new Generators to gain the highest quality production.

Mine rocks from the comfort of your couch. Enter the Explore Event garden and utilize your tapping power to break apart rocks and gems. It’s very satisfying!

No need to dive deep into any caves. With a little elbow grease, these sparkling treasures can appear in the palm of your hand.

• Dust off and acquire three new valuable badges: Rock Cycle, Crystal and Gongshi.
  
• Mine the Gemstone Quantum Charge to obtain its riches.

We’ve struck gold! Along with a new event, this release features an updated tutorial for new players, the introduction of the friend system, and more:

• Customizable player profiles are better than ever. Your personal player profile can now be accessed in the Settings menu in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
  
  
• Have a fellow Cells loving friend? Add them to your friends list through your player profile. Once a friend has been added, you can track their Explore Event progress on the tree while you play. This is a repurposed feature from the past, and we hope you enjoy its new and improved form!
  
  • *Note: Friends cannot actively compete together in the same Leaderboard division. A max of 100 friends can be added in the friends list.
• The Global Leaderboard has been removed from the Neural Network and is now available inside the player profile card.
  
• We streamlined the Global Leaderboard tiers to be more straightforward. You can also earn Darwinium when you rank up after your Simulation Score increases.
  
  
• New to the simulation? There’s now an updated beginner’s tutorial at the beginning of the game.

This topic has been a long time coming. We owe it to our players who have voiced their interest in geological studies over the years, including those who have voted in the most recent Explore Event survey. Thank you for your contributions!

The Civilization Screenshot Contest is approaching its deadline. Have you submitted your screenshot of the updated Ancient Civilization garden? It’s a chance for some very talented photographers to win up to 2,000 Darwinium cubes. Read the contest rules, details and other information on the official contest page. Good luck to everyone participating!

Not to worry, space fans— another episode of the Beyond is underway. While we can’t share too much information yet, it’s safe to say that the upcoming content will really suck you in.

Enjoy this new Explore Event! And remember— don’t take learning for granite.

Stay cellular,
The Cells Team