Spongelab.com science games: Biochem Gems and Build-a-Frog

Spongelab Interactive was founded in 2007 in Toronto to design and produce educational games meant to make a new generation of learners care about the natural and scientific world. The studio's team combined educational, technical and scientific expertise and described its method as discovery-based learning. Its earlier product was Genomics Digital Lab, a series of biology games built on curriculum for Grades 7 through 12. The company said the series, which it called award-winning, had users in more than 50 countries, and it planned more biology games, in particular for university-level students.

In October 2011 Spongelab.com was in beta and growing quickly, with new content arriving from around the world at every level of learning. The platform listed more than 300 images, videos and animations and more than 170 simulations, games and interactives across biology, chemistry, physics and space science, and its community was doubling every month. Members earned credits and experience points for playing and for creating classes, and teachers could build lesson plans, add video links, write case studies and set assessment questions. An updated reporting system, shaped by player feedback, was in its final stage.

Biochem Gems looks simple. It is a match-three puzzle about the building blocks of life, and players are also tasked with assembling a target molecule. Connecting three identical pieces scores points, and the stage target decides whether a round succeeds. A short play session therefore mixes quick matching with a small chemistry task. The game has four main stages, covering carbohydrates, fatty acids, nucleic acids and amino acids, each with three to five levels. After the last level a freeplay mode opens, with a leaderboard for high scores.

In Build-a-Frog, Build-a-Worm and Build-a-Fish, players explore the anatomy of each organism. These interactives sat next to the Spongelab.com games and earned the same credits and experience points.

The spongelab.com address does not lead to a website in November 2026, and neither does the www version. In 2011 the titles above were reached through that single address, so no official page remains for any of them. The status of Biochem Gems, the Build-a games and Genomics Digital Lab is listed as unconfirmed here.

Readers looking for a game on a similar subject can start with the chemistry lab simulations on this site and with the Spongelab entry for Build A Cell, another of the studio's science titles.