Every cell type you'll encounter in Shepherd's Cells — what they look like, how they behave, and what you need to know to keep your colony alive.
Shepherd Cell
The cell you control directly. It's crowned in gold — the only cell in your colony that wears one. Move it with touch or keyboard.
The Shepherd Cell can never be destroyed or removed from the colony, even if it turns sick or faulty. Its health visuals change to reflect its state, but it stays alive no matter what.
Colony Cell
Every cell that splits from your Shepherd Cell becomes a colony cell. They generate DNA passively — the more you have, the faster you earn. Colony cells split automatically on a timer, consuming glucose and oxygen.
Colony cells can be sick, faulty, or healthy. They die when faulty health reaches zero and are removed from the colony. Game over triggers when all colony cells are gone after the colony previously grew past 1.
Sick Cell
A cell turns sick (yellow-amber glow) when a faulty cell is within 2 units of it. Sickness is not immediately fatal — it's a warning that you need to react. T-Cells will eventually target sick cells if no higher-priority threats exist.
After 60 continuous seconds of exposure the sick cell rolls a 50/50: it either turns fully faulty, or recovers. If the nearby faulty cell dies or moves away, the sick timer drains at half speed and the cell slowly heals.
Faulty Cell
40% of all newly split cells are born faulty. They glow orange and pulse with an urgent warning. A faulty cell cannot recover — it will die in 120 seconds, but not before spreading disease.
After a 20-second warmup the faulty cell begins infecting healthy cells within 2 units, turning them sick. If you're not careful, a single faulty cell can trigger a cascade that wipes out your entire colony.
Neutral Cell
Neutral cells are passive organisms that wander the world with slow, smooth random movement. They are not hostile — they won't chase you, attack your colony, or spread disease. They simply drift.
To capture one, move your Shepherd Cell close enough that it enters your capture ring and hold contact for 5 continuous seconds. A progress indicator appears during conversion. Break contact and the timer resets. On success the cell joins your colony and awards DNA.
T-Cell
T-Cells are blue hunter cells you create manually — each costs 10 DNA and sacrifices 1 nearby colony cell. They carry a visible shield ring and autonomously hunt threats in priority order: tagged pathogens first, then virally infected cells, then faulty cells, then sick cells. When idle they follow your Shepherd Cell.
With the T-Cell Permeation talent (Tier 2), T-Cells pass through the rest of your colony instead of being blocked by cell separation physics — allowing them to reach targets faster.
Antibody
Antibodies are hot-pink research cells you create manually — each costs 50 DNA and sacrifices 3 nearby colony cells. They seek out active pathogens and spend time studying them, learning their signature.
Once an antibody has learned a virus type it permanently switches to marking mode: it stays close to that pathogen and flags it as a T-Cell target. Tagged pathogens are hunted first by every T-Cell in your colony. The Rapid Antibody Research talent halves learn time from 120 s to 60 s.
Stem Cell
Stem cells are bright-green growth accelerators you create manually — each costs 30 DNA and sacrifices 2 nearby colony cells. They split twice as fast as normal colony cells (every 15 s instead of 30 s).
Every colony cell within 3× the stem cell's radius splits 30% faster while the stem cell is nearby. Stack multiple stem cells to dramatically accelerate colony growth in a concentrated area.
Red Blood Cell
Red blood cells are flat biconcave disc-shaped collectors you create manually — each upgrade costs 10 DNA, sacrifices 1 colony cell, and spawns 2 RBCs at once. They autonomously seek out and collect glucose and oxygen debris scattered around the world.
Oxygen is the primary resource for cell splitting. Without a steady supply of RBCs collecting debris, your colony's split rate will stall. Keep a healthy fleet of them running to sustain growth.
Colony cells split automatically on a timer. The base interval is 30 seconds, but each subsequent split from the same cell adds another 30 seconds — so growth is fast early and slows over time. Each split costs 1 glucose and 6 oxygen, and rewards 1 DNA. Stem cells cut this interval to 15 seconds and boost nearby cells.
Spend DNA on permanent passive upgrades once your colony is established:
Sick-to-faulty conversion time doubles — 60 s becomes 120 s. Buys critical reaction time during outbreaks.
T-Cells pass through the colony instead of being blocked by cell separation — reach targets faster.
Antibody learn time halved — antibodies identify and tag new virus types in 60 s instead of 120 s.