Cell Forge

Cell Forge: the differences between plant and animal cells

This free game is part of our Pearson Edexcel iGCSE Biology (4BI1) course for exams in EXAM YEARS 2026-2029.

What do plant and animal cells have in common?

Plant and animal cells are both eukaryotic: their genetic material is kept inside a nucleus. They share five key structures:

• Nucleus: contains the genetic material (DNA) and controls the cell's activities.
• Cytoplasm: the jelly-like substance where most of the cell's chemical reactions happen.
• Cell membrane: controls what enters and leaves the cell.
• Mitochondria: where aerobic respiration releases energy from glucose.
• Ribosomes: tiny structures where proteins are made.

What do plant cells have that animal cells don't?

• Cell wall: made of cellulose. It strengthens and supports the cell, gives it a fixed shape and stops it bursting when it takes in water.
• Chloroplasts: contain green chlorophyll, which absorbs light energy for photosynthesis.
• Large permanent vacuole: filled with cell sap. It pushes outwards on the cell wall and keeps the cell firm (turgid), which helps to support the plant.

Not every plant cell has chloroplasts. Cells that grow out of the light, such as root hair cells and onion bulb cells, have none, but they still have a cell wall and a large vacuole.

How to play Cell Forge

You are the night-shift technician at FORGE-9, a lab in orbit that prints living cells to order. Two lab AIs, FERN (plant side) and REX (animal side), argue about which cells are best while you work.

• Each order arrives with a brief and a hint, such as a leaf cell, a muscle cell or a root hair cell. The last four are mystery cells: you only get clues, and you have to work out what the cell is.
• Pick parts from the lab kit to read their cards (looking is free), then add the organelles the cell needs, or take out the ones it shouldn't have. A cutaway 3D cell builds up with every part labelled: add a cell wall and it turns rectangular, add a vacuole and everything is pushed out to the edges.
• The cards get harder as the shift goes on: first the name and what each part does, then only what it does, then just a short hint. Wrong moves cost points and time, and a cancelled order is a strike. After each print you get a recap and a quick true or false check for bonus points.
• Build combos, beat your best score and climb the ranks from Trainee Technician to Chief Bio-Forger.

Plant and animal cells under a microscope

Plant cells usually look rectangular, with a thick edge (the cell wall) and a large clear space in the middle (the vacuole). Leaf cells look green because of their chloroplasts. Animal cells look round or irregular, with a thin edge (just the cell membrane), no large central vacuole, and they are never green.

Because animal cells have no rigid cell wall, they can change shape. Red blood cells, for example, can squeeze through capillaries narrower than they are.

Exam tips

• Learn the three plant-only structures: cell wall, chloroplasts and large permanent vacuole. Everything else is in both.
• Say that the cell wall is made of cellulose, and that its job is strength and support. It is the membrane that controls what enters and leaves.
• Plant cells have both a cell wall and a cell membrane, and both chloroplasts and mitochondria.
• Don't say that all plant cells have chloroplasts. Root cells don't.
• Mitochondria release energy by respiration; ribosomes make proteins. Don't mix them up.