Game of life
In 1970 John Conway developed a cellular automation known as Game of Life. The program is a 2D grid of square cells which can be in either “alive” or “dead” state. Each cell interacts with its 8 neighbours, which are horizontally, vertically and diagonally adjacent.
The rules are simple:
- Each cell with one or no neighbors dies, as if by solitude
- Each cell with four or more neighbors dies, as if by overpopulation
- Each cell with two or three neighbors survives
- Any dead cell with exactly three live neighbours becomes a live cell, as if by reproduction.
Complex patterns can be observed from this simple rule and can be considered a mathematical beauty.
Here is a simple implementation using p5.js.
*Left click to populate a cell / Right click to unpopulate a cell
Some popular patterns