Conway's Game of Life
Conway's Game of Life is an interactive cellular automaton: a grid of cells that come alive, die, and reproduce generation after generation from just four simple rules. Draw your own pattern, drop in a famous one, and press play to watch complex, lifelike behavior emerge in real time.
Invented by mathematician John Conway in 1970, the Game of Life is a "zero-player" game — there is no winning, no losing, and no input once it starts. It is a favorite for math students, programmers, and anyone curious how simple rules can produce moving spaceships, oscillators, and patterns that grow forever.
The Four Rules
On every generation, each cell looks at its eight surrounding neighbors and all cells update at once:
Underpopulation
A live cell with fewer than 2 live neighbors dies, as if from loneliness.
Survival
A live cell with 2 or 3 live neighbors stays alive into the next generation.
Overpopulation
A live cell with more than 3 live neighbors dies, as if from overcrowding.
Reproduction
A dead cell with exactly 3 live neighbors becomes alive — a new cell is born.
How to Use
Draw your cells
Click any empty cell to bring it to life, or click a live cell to erase it. Click and drag to paint several cells at once. On mobile, tap and drag with your finger.
Or place a preset pattern
Open the Patterns menu and pick from 8 classics. Move your cursor over the grid to preview, then click to drop the pattern. Press Esc to cancel.
Run the simulation
Press Play or hit Space to start. Cells evolve generation by generation. Use Step (or N) to advance exactly one generation while paused.
Tune it your way
Drag the speed slider, switch the color theme, toggle Wrap Edges, or hit Random for an instant starting soup. Watch the Gen and Pop counters track each step.
Features
Interactive Drawing Grid
Click or drag to draw and erase cells directly on the grid, with full touch support on phones and tablets.
Play, Pause & Step
Run the simulation continuously, pause anytime, or step through one generation at a time to study every move.
Adjustable Speed
Slide from 1 to 60 generations per second — slow enough to follow each rule, fast enough for fluid motion.
8 Classic Patterns
Drop in the Glider, Spaceship (LWSS), Blinker, Toad, Beacon, Pulsar, Pentadecathlon, or the Gosper Glider Gun.
Live Pattern Preview
Once a pattern is selected, a ghost preview follows your cursor so you can position it exactly before placing.
4 Color Themes
Choose Classic indigo, Matrix green, position-based Neon rainbow, or Heatmap where cells warm from blue to red with age.
Random Fill
Seed the whole grid with a random soup at about 30% density for instant, unpredictable starting conditions.
Wrap Edges (Toroidal)
Toggle a wrap-around grid so cells leaving one edge reappear on the opposite side, letting gliders travel forever.
Generation & Population Counters
Live Gen and Pop readouts show which generation you are on and how many cells are currently alive.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Control everything from the keys: Space to play, N to step, C to clear, R to randomize, and Esc to cancel a pattern.
Built-in Help Panel
A quick reference explains the four rules, interactions, and shortcuts without leaving the simulator.
Responsive & Fullscreen
The grid auto-fits any screen and runs in an immersive fullscreen layout. The simulation auto-pauses when every cell has died.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the rules of Conway's Game of Life?
There are four. A live cell with fewer than 2 neighbors dies (underpopulation); a live cell with 2 or 3 neighbors survives; a live cell with more than 3 neighbors dies (overpopulation); and a dead cell with exactly 3 neighbors becomes alive (reproduction). Every cell counts its eight neighbors and all cells update at the same time.
Who invented the Game of Life?
British mathematician John Horton Conway devised it in 1970. It is a "zero-player" game: you set up the starting cells, but once it runs it evolves entirely on its own with no further input.
What is a glider and a glider gun?
A glider is the smallest "spaceship" — a five-cell pattern that crawls diagonally across the grid forever. The Gosper Glider Gun is a larger structure that produces a steady stream of new gliders, the first known pattern that grows without limit. Both are in the Patterns menu, ready to place.
Why do all my cells keep dying?
Loose or sparse drawings rarely sustain themselves. Try a preset such as the Pulsar or Glider — these are built to oscillate or move stably — or hit Random for enough density to spark interesting long-term behavior. When the grid empties completely, the simulation auto-pauses.
What does "Wrap Edges" do?
With Wrap Edges on, the grid behaves like a torus: the left and right edges connect, and the top and bottom connect. Patterns that move off one side reappear on the other. Turn it off and edge cells have fewer neighbors, so they behave differently.
What is the Heatmap color theme?
In Heatmap mode, cells are colored by age. Newborn cells appear blue and gradually shift toward red the longer they survive, making it easy to spot stable structures (red) versus busy, churning areas (blue).
Can I play it on my phone?
Yes. The simulator is fully touch-friendly — tap to toggle cells, drag to draw, and use the control bar for every feature. The grid automatically resizes to fit your screen.
Is my data stored anywhere?
No. Everything runs locally in your browser. Nothing is sent to any server, and nothing is saved once you close the page.
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