Eat Prey Live

Become a predator and shape the population you hunt.

Populations change over time, and one of the strongest forces shaping populations is predation. As predators hunt prey, they remove certain individuals, and as a consequence, the genes that encode that individual from a population.

In this game, players take the role of a predator that hunts dots. The dots vary in speed and maneuverability and hunting them changes the traits of the future population. As they play, players learn about how selection functions, and how populations change through time.

Sandbox variables: population speed and maneuverability, a trade-off between size and maneuverability, size of the waves, an energetic cost of hunting, and the benefit gained from a kill.

This game is designed to be played individually and as a group. While playing individually, students learn about how selection varies and the factors that affect the strength of selection. This can be assigned as homework and suits a flipped classroom style of teaching. As a group, students can design an experiment using the sandbox level.