The Game of Life is a cellular automaton devised by mathematician John Conway in 1970. It is a zero-player game — its evolution is determined by the initial state, with no further input needed. Despite extremely simple rules, it can produce astonishingly complex behavior.
The Rules
The universe is an infinite 2D grid of cells. Each cell is either alive or dead. Every generation, cells evolve simultaneously based on their 8 neighbors:
💀Underpopulation — A live cell with fewer than 2 neighbors dies (loneliness)
✅Survival — A live cell with 2 or 3 neighbors lives on to the next generation
💀Overpopulation — A live cell with more than 3 neighbors dies (overcrowding)
🐣Reproduction — A dead cell with exactly 3 neighbors becomes alive (birth)
Pattern Types
Still lifes — Stable patterns that don't change (e.g. Block, Beehive)
Oscillators — Patterns that cycle between states (e.g. Blinker, Pulsar)
Spaceships — Patterns that move across the grid (e.g. Glider, LWSS)
Guns — Patterns that periodically emit spaceships (e.g. Gosper Gun)
Methuselahs — Small patterns that evolve for many generations before stabilizing (e.g. Acorn, R-pentomino)
Controls
Space / P — Play / Pause
N / S — Advance one step
C — Clear the grid
R — Fill randomly
Esc — Cancel pattern placement
Click or drag to draw cells — Right-click or Shift+click to erase
Why does it matter?
The Game of Life demonstrates that complex, seemingly intelligent behavior can emerge from extremely simple rules. It has been proven to be Turing complete — meaning it can, in theory, compute anything a computer can. It's a beautiful illustration of emergence: how simplicity gives rise to complexity.
12 fpsGen0 | Pop0
Patterns:
Click or drag to draw — Right-click or hold Shift to erase