# Dish Life: The Game

> A simulation game about stem cell research and laboratory management. (iPhone/iPad app by Pocket Sized Hands Ltd.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dish-life-the-game/id1481972197 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Pocket Sized Hands Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1479531504)
- Category: Games, Education, Simulation
- Price: Free
- Rating: 3.58/5 from 12 App Store ratings · 26 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 15.0 · 561 MB
- Languages: English
- Released: 2020-02-25
- Data updated: 2026-06-28
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dish-life-the-game/id1481972197/reviews.md

## What is Dish Life?

In Dish Life: The Game, experience the life of a stem cell researcher by managing the daily life of a laboratory and growing your very own stem cells. Manage your laboratory and nurture your stem cells to become a celebrated stem cell scientist. Come face to face with issues that stem cell scientists deal with daily; politics, social issues and staff problems are just a few of the types of dilemmas you’ll have to deal with in Dish Life.  

Dish Life: The Game aims to educate and inform players of both the scientific processes of stem cell science as well as address the wider issues and misconceptions that are associated with stem cell research.  This game is produced by the Reproductive Sociology Research Group (ReproSoc), with the support of the Wellcome Trust and the Economic and Social Research Council.

## Key features

- Stem cell research simulation
- Laboratory management
- Nurture stem cells
- Address social issues
- Handle political dilemmas
- Staff problem solving

## Recent user reviews (10 of 26)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dish-life-the-game/id1481972197/reviews.md

### 4/5 — Great however encountered a bug

*2024-06-24, version 1.3.3*

Great game! I really enjoy playing it. However I encountered a glitch where I couldn't assign a lab member to differentiate my cells and so they just sat there and I couldn't do anything with them

### 5/5 — Dish Life

*2020-10-17, version 1.1*

Honestly the most fun I have had during Lockdown... great gameplay as you negotiate your way in the life of a scientist - feeding cells as you aim to become a professor.. if you like simulations this is for you.. and for once that is Sage advice that can’t be disputed.

### 4/5 — Stuck with less petri dishes!

*2020-06-30*

The game has a really cool concept, and I believe you can add more things to make it more interesting and more levels.
Some things become really repetitive, which makes it boring. 
It’s very slow unless you play it three times faster. 
I’m stuck now with two differentiation petri dishes that I can’t solve, I don’t know why. But it’s taking space out of all the dishes. 
I’m hoping you can help with this issue. 
I would also suggest if there is a skipping button for all the dialogues if I don’t really wanna go through all of them.

### 3/5 — Great concept, but get’s repetitive

*2020-06-30*

I love the concept of this game! The main issue is that there is a limited number of things you can do in the game, so it becomes very repetitive with minimal need for strategic thought/decision making. The projects don’t change - they are just different combinations of the same mundane tasks. The gameplay doesn’t change at all as you progress from undergraduate to professor, which is a great shortcoming.  You have to play this game at three times speed or else its very slow.  The dialogue boxes and conversations with colleagues do not affect gameplay at all and only hinder the flow of the game as you constantly have to exit out of dialogue boxes. The issues that arise in these dialogues could be opportunities for side quests or additional projects, such as addressing morale of the entire lab community. In summary, this is a noteworthy start to a unique game, but there is significant room for improvement.

### 4/5 — Stopped working :(

*2020-03-21, version 1.0*

Really like the game but halfway through the PHDstudent level the differentiated cells would disappear after they were made :( Tried redownloading but the same thing happened again

### 3/5 — Love this game!

*2020-03-09, version 1.0*

I love this game! Although I’m up to the point where I can’t go any further and my characters can’t do anything anymore :( will be awaiting the update so I can keep playing! :)

### 5/5 — Great wee game

*2020-03-07, version 1.0*

Love me some stem cells

### 4/5 — Great game

*2020-03-06, version 1.0*

This game is really interesting and I was hooked the first day I got it, but I saw a lot of reviews about the game crashing and I experienced this when I was getting close to levelling up from the first phd grade, I could move my character and see how my cells are doing and all that but time wouldn’t progress and I couldn’t rest my characters, make medium, increase cells happiness or increase production, this but/crash or whatever this would be called needs to be fixed or this game will be such a loss of potential, hope the devs read this, love your game 👍👍

### 3/5 — Great game

*2020-03-05, version 1.0*

Great game but as with others it has crashed. Stuck on the same time. I can move people but they won’t to anything. Fingers crossed they fix this issue.

### 2/5 — Broken

*2020-03-04, version 1.0*

It’s got a great visual style, but not much beyond that. The gameplay, or at least what I was able to see before it glitches out, seemed pretty boring. It won’t let me advance past a certain point in the tutorial unfortunately

**Developer response:** Hi there, thanks for taking the time to play. Can you please email us at info@dishlife.org with some further details about your issue and we will try our best to help you.

## Frequently asked questions about Dish Life

### What is Dish Life: The Game about?

Dish Life: The Game is a simulation where you experience the life of a stem cell researcher. You will manage a laboratory, grow stem cells, and face real-world issues like politics, social concerns, and staff problems.

### What are the key features of this game?

Key features include managing a laboratory, nurturing stem cells, and confronting the daily dilemmas faced by stem cell scientists, such as political and social issues, and staff management.

### Is Dish Life: The Game free to play?

Yes, the application is free to download and play. There are no in-app purchases or advertisements mentioned.

### What is the purpose of this game?

The game aims to educate players about the scientific processes of stem cell science and to address wider issues and misconceptions associated with stem cell research in an engaging simulation.

### Who is this game intended for?

This game is designed for players interested in learning about stem cell science and the complexities of scientific research, presented through a simulation of laboratory life and its associated challenges.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.4.1 — 2026-06-22

bug fixes

### 1.4.0 — 2026-06-10

Upgrade to the latest devices

### 1.3.3 — 2022-07-01

German language support

### 1.3 — 2022-06-30

German language support

### 1.1 — 2020-04-07

Bug Fixes

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-28.*
