Parts of a Cell Game: Organelles and What They Do
Cell Dive is a free parts of a cell game for grades 3-8, played in a web browser on a desktop or laptop, with no account, no sign-in and nothing to install. One click per lesson. Cell Dive sends a tiny submarine down through a cell with only the parts you picked drifting past, and the panel at the top names a job: holds the DNA, the power plant, where photosynthesis happens. The student steers into the organelle that does it before the clock runs out. Miss one and the panel shows the answer (NUCLEUS — HOLDS THE DNA), then asks for that part again a few questions later.
Pick a lesson, press play
Animal cell parts
Every part an animal cell has in the game, inside an animal cell. No chloroplast comes up.
Nucleus, Mitochondrion, Ribosome, Endoplasmic Reticulum, Golgi Body, Lysosome, Vacuole, Cell Membrane
Plant cell parts
Every part a plant cell has in the game, inside a plant cell. The lysosome never comes up; the chloroplast does.
Nucleus, Mitochondrion, Ribosome, Endoplasmic Reticulum, Golgi Body, Vacuole, Chloroplast, Cell Membrane
Plant and animal cells
All nine parts. The dive starts in an animal cell and switches to a plant cell and back as it goes deeper, with a banner each time, so the chloroplast and lysosome only show up where they belong.
Nucleus, Mitochondrion, Ribosome, Endoplasmic Reticulum, Golgi Body, Lysosome, Vacuole, Chloroplast, Cell Membrane
The core six
Nucleus, mitochondrion, ribosome, Golgi body, vacuole and cell membrane: the game's own starter set and a good first lesson.
Nucleus, Mitochondrion, Ribosome, Golgi Body, Vacuole, Cell Membrane
Making and shipping proteins
The protein path: the nucleus holds the instructions, ribosomes build, the endoplasmic reticulum carries, the Golgi body packages and ships.
Nucleus, Ribosome, Endoplasmic Reticulum, Golgi Body
Food, energy and storage
Inside a plant cell: the chloroplast makes food from sunlight, the mitochondrion turns it into energy, the vacuole stores water and food.
Nucleus, Mitochondrion, Vacuole, Chloroplast
The nine parts and the jobs the game asks for
Each question names one of these jobs. The wording changes so the same part does not read like the same flashcard twice.
Nucleus (plant and animal cells)
holds the DNA · the control centre · decides what the cell does
Mitochondrion (plant and animal cells)
the power plant · turns food into energy · makes the cell’s fuel
Ribosome (plant and animal cells)
builds proteins · the tiny protein factory · where proteins get made
Endoplasmic Reticulum (plant and animal cells)
the folded tunnels that carry proteins · the highway inside the cell · moves proteins where they are needed
Golgi Body (plant and animal cells)
packages and ships proteins · the cell’s post office · wraps and labels things for delivery
Lysosome (animal cells only)
breaks down waste · the recycling crew · cleans up worn-out parts
Vacuole (plant and animal cells)
stores water and food · the storage tank · holds the cell’s supplies
Chloroplast (plant cells only)
catches sunlight to make food · where photosynthesis happens · the green food factory
Cell Membrane (plant and animal cells)
controls what gets in and out · the gatekeeper · the cell’s outer skin
Your own mix, one link for the class
The link opens Cell Dive with just that mix. Saved settings on a student's computer are left alone.
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Questions teachers ask
- Is it free?
- Yes. Cell Dive is one of the 12 games on the Arcade Deck, which is free to play with no account and nothing to install. The ten rooms on the Promenade are for members; nothing on this page needs one.
- What do students need?
- A desktop or laptop computer with a keyboard (the arrow keys steer the submarine) or a mouse (drag to steer), and an up-to-date browser.
- Which cell parts are in it?
- Nine: nucleus, mitochondrion, ribosome, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi body, lysosome, vacuole, chloroplast, cell membrane. The lysosome is filed as animal-only and the chloroplast as plant-only, the usual school diagram convention. The vacuole is in both (one big central vacuole in a plant cell, small ones in an animal cell).
- What is not in it?
- There is no cell wall, cytoplasm, nucleolus, centriole, cilia or flagella, and nothing about bacteria or cell division. A plant-cell lesson that has to cover the cell wall needs another activity for that part. The cell membrane is the wall of the level you dive past: when the job named is the membrane's, the student steers into the edge of the cell.
- Does it name the parts, or is it a quiz?
- Both. Each lesson card has a "with names" link, where every drifting organelle carries a name tag, and a "shapes only" link, where the student has to know the part from its textbook shape. After a miss the answer is shown either way, unless you pick "don't show" in the picker below.
- Can I pick the parts?
- Yes. Tick the parts and the cell type in the picker above and you get one link that opens Cell Dive with that mix. The mix lives in the link itself; we do not store anything.
- What grade is it for?
- The game is pitched at grades 3 to 6 and the clues are plain words (the power plant, the recycling crew), so it also works as a first pass or review for the middle-school cells unit. It names what each part does; it does not go into how (no ATP, DNA replication or protein folding).
- Does it go too fast for younger students?
- It opens on Rookie, the slowest speed, with a relaxed clock (four times the base time to answer). A submarine that is holding still is never rammed by a wrong part. Teacher Setup in the game changes the speed and turns the after-a-miss answer on or off.
- Do students sign in, or does it collect anything?
- No sign-in and no student accounts. There are no ad trackers. See the privacy page for the details. Privacy.
- Who makes Starship Arcade?
- Starship Arcade is a small independent studio in Ontario. The games are built with AI and tested before they ship.