Simon's Bacteria

Welcome to the 1998 retro game. A sharp turn-based strategy game about rotating stones, chain captures, and outsmarting an adaptive AI. No ads, no tracking.

Simon's Bacteria is a turn-based strategy game built around one deceptively simple mechanic: rotate a stone, and watch the board change.

HOW IT WORKS Each stone on the board points in one of four directions. On your turn, rotate one of your stones 90° clockwise — it moves into the cell it now points to, and can trigger a chain reaction of captures across the board. Read the board carefully: a single rotation can flip the momentum of the entire game.

PLAY YOUR WAY • Chaos Mode — a fully randomized board for a classic, unpredictable game every time. • Symmetry Mode — mirrored starting positions for a perfectly fair fight. • Balanced Mode — randomized but evenly distributed starting directions.

THREE LEVELS OF AI (VINTAGE 1998) No neural networks, no cloud, no buzzwords — just an honest, old-school game AI in the spirit of 1998, built on classic move-search logic rather than anything fashionable. It adapts to the difficulty you choose — from a forgiving opponent that favors easy captures, to a sharp one that looks several moves ahead and plans around your counter-attacks.

DESIGNED TO GET OUT OF YOUR WAY • Clean, focused board — no clutter, no timers pressuring your every move. • Two visual stone styles to match your taste. • Game Center leaderboards and achievements to track your wins. • Your games and stats are saved locally — pick up right where you left off. • No ads. No account required. No data collection beyond what Game Center itself handles.

FREE & OPEN SOURCE Simon's Bacteria is completely free and fully playable, with nothing locked behind a purchase — it's an open-source passion project. If you'd like to say thanks, optional tips are available in the Tips menu; they simply help cover the cost of the Apple Developer license required to bring an open-source project like this one to the App Store.

Whether you have two minutes or twenty, Simon's Bacteria rewards careful thinking over fast reflexes.

COMING SOON We're actively working on online multiplayer, additional board generation modes, new AI difficulty tiers, and more stone visual styles.