INTERACTIVE
The Garden
GEN 0000 · B3/S23 · POP 0000
Click or drag to paint cells. The grid wraps at edges (torus). The rule mutates every 12 generations: B3/S23 → B36/S23 → B3/S1234 → repeat.
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Conway's Game of Life
MACHINE A — CELLULAR AUTOMATON
Conway's Game of Life
Free, browser-based, no install
Paint living cells. Watch them evolve by simple rules. See gliders, oscillators, and chaotic structures emerge from nothing. Three rule sets. Infinite generations.
What Is Conway's Game of Life?
Conway's Game of Life is a zero-player game — a cellular automaton invented by British mathematician John Horton Conway in 1970. You set an initial configuration of living cells on a grid, then watch as they evolve generation by generation according to simple deterministic rules.
The Classic Rules (B3/S23)
- Birth: A dead cell becomes alive if it has exactly 3 living neighbors.
- Survival: A living cell stays alive if it has 2 or 3 living neighbors.
- Death: In all other cases, the cell dies (or stays dead) — from underpopulation (0–1 neighbors) or overpopulation (4+ neighbors).
Despite these simple rules, the Game of Life is Turing complete — it can simulate any computer program. People have built logic gates, counters, and even a Game of Life inside Game of Life within it.
Why This Version Is Different
- Three rule sets, cycling automatically — You don't just get classic Conway. Every 12 generations the rules shift, revealing behaviors impossible under a single rule.
- Toroidal grid — Edges wrap, so patterns never hit a wall. Gliders loop forever.
- Paintable, not just watchable — Most online versions are read-only. Here you draw directly.
- No dependencies, no tracking — Vanilla JavaScript. Runs offline once loaded. No cookies, no analytics, no framework bloat.
Patterns You'll See
Still lifes (blocks, beehives, loaves) never change. Oscillators (blinkers, toads, beacons, pulsars) repeat after a fixed period. Spaceships (gliders, lightweight/middleweight/heavyweight spaceships) translate across the grid. Guns periodically emit spaceships. Chaos — random soups often explode into complex, long-lived activity before settling.
Technical Details
- Grid: 64 × 40 cells (toroidal)
- Update interval: ~110 ms per generation (when playing)
- Ghost trail: recently dead cells fade over ~10 generations
- Newborn highlight: cells born in the last 3 generations show in accent color
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Conway's Game of Life?
Conway's Game of Life is a cellular automaton devised by mathematician John Horton Conway in 1970. It consists of a grid of cells that live, die, or multiply based on how many living neighbors they have. Despite simple rules, it produces complex, emergent patterns.
Is this really free? Do I need to download anything?
Yes, completely free. No download, no install, no account, no ads. It runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript and HTML5 Canvas.
What are the rules B3/S23, B36/S23, and B3/S1234?
These are rule sets for cellular automata. B3/S23 is classic Conway: a dead cell is Born with exactly 3 neighbors, a live cell Stays alive with 2 or 3 neighbors. B36/S23 (HighLife) adds birth with 6 neighbors. B3/S1234 is a more permissive survival rule that creates denser, longer-lived patterns.
What does toroidal wrapping mean?
The grid wraps around at the edges — the left edge connects to the right, the top to the bottom. This means patterns can move across boundaries seamlessly, effectively making the grid a donut shape (torus).
Can I use this on mobile?
Yes. The canvas is responsive and supports touch — tap and drag to paint cells. All controls work on mobile devices.