Description

In Dish Life: The Game you put the lab coat on and experience first-hand the life of a stem cell scientist. This game is unique in its focus on the laboratory as a social world, where good science depends on the social relationships that scientists build. Make your stem cells happy. Look after your colleagues. Respond to the demands of society at large. In Dish Life: The Game, immerse yourself in the laboratory. Build your avatar and follow a scientific career from student to professor. Nurture the happiness of your stem cells in the dish. Manage your laboratory. Care for your colleagues to succeed in collaborative experiments. Write scientific articles to improve your reputation. Respond to the real-life dilemmas that scientists face. Dish Life: The Game for the first time opens the doors to the social life of the laboratory. This game is produced by the Reproductive Sociology Research Group (ReproSoc), University of Cambridge and Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and with the support of the Wellcome Trust and the Economic and Social Research Council.

History

The University of Cambridge is working with game developers at Pocket Sized Hands to design Dish Life: The Game. The game is developed by the interdisciplinary team of sociologists and stem cell researchers behind the award-winning documentary Dish Life (2016), which was featured in 12 international film festivals and won awards at Raw Science Film Festival, Bristol Science Film Festival and Social Machinery Film Festival.

The interdisciplinary Cambridge team, based at the Reproductive Sociology Research Group (ReproSoc) and the Stem Cell Institute, are now collaborating with Pocket Sized Hands to bring you a unique game in which you can immerse in the life of a stem cell researcher and experience science as a social experience.

Features

  • Live the life of a scientist
  • Manage your own stem cell lab
  • Feed and look after your stem cells
  • Deal with real-world dilemmas and challenges that stem cell researchers face
  • Explore the role of social justice in science practice
  • Play as a male, female or transgender character
  • Create your own unique look for your scientist
  • Progress through the academic career, from student to professor
  • A unique papercraft art style
  • Have your own lab right into your pocket

Videos

Dish Life: The Game Trailer — YouTube

Images

Dish Life:a Cambridge Shorts film
Dish Life is a documentary short about stem cell scientists' emotional relationship to the cells they grow in the laboratory. As live beings, in vitro cells need constant care - nourishing food, a clean environment and enough space - to flourish. Scientists, in tireless efforts, have to assume the role of parents to keep the cells happy, while the cells at times may act like misbehaving children. Dish Life was written and directed by Chloe Thomas and produced for the University of Cambridge by Karen Jent and Loriana Vitillo for the Cambridge Shorts Series. Since its premiere, the film has been in the official selection and won awards at numerous international film festivals. The film has also been featured by a number of news media outlets, including the New York Times and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. cam.ac.uk.
Reproductive Sociology Research
The Reproductive Sociology Research Group supports research and teaching on the social and cultural implications of new reproductive technologies. ReproSoc is based within the Department of Sociology and is part of an expanding concentration of Reproductive Studies at Cambridge, is led by Professor Sarah Franklin and has funding from the Wellcome Trust, British Academy, ESRC, ERC, and Office of the Vice Chancellor, as well as several other funding bodies. reprosoc.sociology.cam.ac.uk.

About Pocket Sized Hands

Boilerplate
Pocket Sized Hands is an award-winning AR/VR developer focusing on creating original content and building bespoke software solutions. Currently we are working on our own original IP as well as building innovative AR/VR software for businesses worldwide. Pocket Sized Hands started out as a small student team, branching out from Abertay University, and has built up a core team comprising of award winning programmers and celebrated artists who have been previously worked with companies such as Pixar, Square Enix and Capcom.
More information
More information on Pocket Sized Hands, our logo & relevant media are available here.

Dish Life: The Game Credits

Alan Yeats
Programming
Rory Thomson
Programming
Gary McCartan
Programming
Robin Lawrence
Artist
David Gray
Artist
Daniel Wan
Artist
Sara Leone
Artist
Florencia Minuzzi
Writing
Mike Brown
Audio
Phil Smy
Production
Karen Jent
Chief Executive Production
Loriana Vitillo
Executive Production
Lucy Van De Wiel
Executive Production