Labs / Computer Science
Game of Life
Every cell lives or dies by four tiny rules, yet whole machines crawl out of them. Click and drag to paint living cells, stamp a glider or the famous glider gun, then press play and watch the grid come alive. The edges wrap around, so nothing ever falls off the world.
gen 0alive 0
What to try
- A blinker just flips back and forth — but a glider keeps moving. What is the difference between a pattern that oscillates and one that travels?
- The glider gun fires a new glider forever. Where does all that structure come from if every cell only ever checks its 8 neighbours?
- Scribble a big random blob and let it run. Does it explode, settle into still shapes, or leave a few blinkers twitching?
- Send a glider straight into a solid block. Does it pass through, bounce, or get destroyed?
- Slow the speed down and step one generation at a time. Can you predict which cells will be born or die before you press Step?