The Lab is the single most important structure of Impossible Creatures. The main objective of any battle is to destroy your opponent's Lab while protecting yours.
This building is where a player may advance through the Research Levels and unlock Advanced Structures. It can also create Henchmen and, for a short time, reveal the entire map with a Radar Pulse. Should the Lab come under attack, the player may protect it from damage using Lab Defense.
Every player begins with a Lab, but it is possible to have more than one. This can only be done with the use of the Mission Editor, but is completely unconventional. Under those circumstances, a player would have to destroy all of the opponent's Labs to defeat them.
Gameplay[]
General[]
As a standard, all players begin a game with their Lab and three Henchmen. It is the only way to create more Henchmen (except for the Minilab of Creature Chaos) and unlock Research Levels, but it cannot do both at once. It is also where the player may gain Advanced Structure Research, unlocking the Anti-Air Tower, Research Clinic and Landing Pad and increasing the hit points of various structures by 50%.
The Lab is where Henchmen will normally deposit coal they have collected. If the player has built a Workshop, they may do so there instead; by default they will go to the nearest collection point. Since the Impossible Creatures 1.1 Patch, Henchmen deal considerably more damage to enemy Henchmen when near their Lab.
Once a Lab has been destroyed, all units and structures built by its owner will be eliminated as well.
In the Campaign[]
Concept art of the Lab.
As part of the storyline, the Lab serves as Rex and Lucy's mode of transport and base of operations throughout the Campaign. Due to the plot events it is involved in, some missions begin with a damaged Lab.
The Lab in the Campaign functions in the same way as general games, but has a couple of additional roles. The most important is "Army Management", where the player may edit their army of combined creatures at any time. Rex and Lucy can also be garrisoned inside the Lab, protecting them from harm and healing them if they are injured.
Other Labs[]
In the Campaign, there are various buildings owned by NPC's that serve the same purpose as the Lab, but differ in appearance and durability.
Henchman Lab[]
This structure is encountered in several missions, when the enemy consists of Henchmen. Its bulky, square shape and relatively low hit points make it easy to destroy.
Advanced Lab[]
These Labs were developed by Upton Julius as part of his scheme for world domination. They are based on the player's Lab but with a sleek, shiny appearance and more sophisticated technology. Four of them serve as enemies in Mission 10.
Chanikov's Lab[]
This building is the first place Rex visited upon arriving at the islands. It had been abandoned, but contained a Tiger\Praying Mantis creature that attacks Rex when he revisits it in Mission 3. It only serves as a storyline object and is not treated as a building, meaning it cannot be damaged
Concept art of Whitey's Lab.
Whitey's Lab[]
Whitey Hooten set up base inside a large ship that had been partially consumed by an iceberg. When it is destroyed by the player in Mission 4, the captain goes down with his ship and is killed.
Velika's Lab[]
Velika's business was conducted inside an elaborate treehouse. This Lab has far more hit points than any other building previously encountered (in excess of 20000), so it takes a lot of effort to destroy it in Mission 8.
Ganglion's Lab[]
Otis Ganglion owned a two-part Lab that resembed a medical facility. Although it consists of a pair of C-shaped structures, it is treated as one building in the game.
The Creature Controller[]
This machine is not a Lab as such, but serves the same purpose for one of the enemies in Mission 13. It was specially designed to give out an extra-powerful signal to control the giant creatures.
Julius's Lab[]
This building resembles Chanikov's Lab, but is significantly larger. It is also where Lucy Willing is held captive until the end of the Campaign, when Julius is defeated.