Rebirth is the long game in Evolve a Cell. You give up your current cell, go back to stage 1, and get evolution points to spend on a skill tree you keep forever.
When can you rebirth?
From stage 4. On PC, hold G. The game also starts nudging you with "Rebirth unlocked — you can now rebirth to evolve even greater."
How many points do you get?
It depends on the run. What we've seen on screen:
- A short early rebirth: 5–6 points.
- A 22-minute life with 132 cells eaten: 10 points.
So time alive and cells eaten both count. Rebirthing the second you hit stage 4 is not the most efficient move — a longer life pays more.
What do you keep?
Your skill tree. Several creators were surprised that their cell looked the same after rebirthing — parts you've unlocked stay unlocked, so you aren't starting from nothing.
What to buy first
Our order, based on what helped most in the footage:
- Head Start — start each life with 40 DNA. Your first build comes online immediately.
- DNA nodes — +5% DNA, +15% from meat or the plant DNA node, whichever matches your diet.
- Swim Speed and Faster Dash — speed keeps runs alive.
- Health and Post-fight Healing.
- Rebirth Savings — keep more DNA when you rebirth. Gets better the more you rebirth.
- Colossus — required for stage 7. See How to Become the Colossus.
Some nodes cost 2 points (the specialty ones like Glass Cannon and Colossus). There's also a reset that refunds points if you want to rebuild.
Plan it out with the rebirth point planner.
Node names
The game shows nodes by their effect text. The short names on this wiki (like "Head Start") are ours, for readability.