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ARCADE & REFLEX / THE NIGHT SHIFT

Membrane Bouncer

Small molecules. Big night.
You’re on the door.

SHIFT LEFT90s
DOOR SCORE0
STREAK0×
CROWD MOOD100%
NEXT ACTION
Start a shift to meet the first guest.Goal: choose the correct routes and keep crowd mood above zero.
EST. 3.5 BILLION YEARS AGO

CLUB MEMBRANE

SELECTIVELY EXCLUSIVE

INSIDE THE CELL
OUTSIDE / THE VELVET ROPE OPENING NIGHT

YOU’RE THE MEMBRANE BOUNCER

Good chemistry.
Strict door policy.

Drag the front molecule to its entrance. Bounce the mustaches. Glucose acting tipsy? Signal insulin, then use GLUT4.

● O₂ / CO₂ → lipids⊕ Ions → channel⬡ Glucose → GLUT4〰 Mustache → bounce

Or click a molecule, then a door. Keys 1–4 route the front guest; I signals insulin.

THE DOOR POLICY Small nonpolar guests slip through the lipid bilayer. Charged guests need a matching protein. Glucose uses a transporter.

A LITTLE BIOLOGY, A LITTLE CLUB FICTION This models insulin-stimulated GLUT4 uptake in muscle/fat cells. Other glucose transporters and exercise also enable uptake. Mustaches, tipsiness, toxin recognition, crowd mood and timers are game fiction; real transport depends on gradients and protein specificity.

HOW TO PLAY

Check the guest. Choose the door.

Work a 90-second shift or practice without a clock or patience penalties. Only the front guest moves. Drag it to a door, or click it and then a destination. Keys 1 lipid, 2 channel, 3 GLUT4, 4 bounce, I insulin, P pause, M music.

  1. O₂ and CO₂: small nonpolar molecules diffuse through the lipid bilayer.
  2. Na⁺ and K⁺: use the channel. Real channels are selective; this door groups matching channels together.
  3. Glucose: signal insulin, then use GLUT4 while the six-second signal is active. Insulin binds its own receptor and increases surface GLUT4; it does not escort glucose through a channel.
  4. Fake mustache: bounce that disguised toxin, whatever its label.

Correct decisions earn 100 points plus 10 per streak step, up to 100 bonus. Mistakes and expired patience cost 15 mood and break the streak. At zero mood the shift ends. Patience shortens after 30 and 60 seconds. Practice removes patience penalties, but mistakes still affect mood.

Pause, help and switching tabs freeze the game and insulin timer. Music is optional. Replay starts fresh. The drunk glucose character, universal toxin disguise, score, entry policy and timing are fictional teaching devices. Real glucose uptake also occurs through other transporters and in response to exercise.

Reference: GLUT4 on the move (2022).