How to Play

📜 Understanding the Rules

Conway's Game of Life is a "zero-player game"—once you set up an initial pattern, it evolves on its own. Each cell on the grid is either alive (filled) or dead (empty), and every generation, cells live or die based on their neighbors.

🎮 Getting Started

1. Draw Your Pattern

   Click on cells to toggle them alive or dead. Use the Draw tool for continuous drawing, or Erase to remove cells. You can also use the Randomize button for a quick start.

2. Use the Pattern Library

   Select from 15+ classic patterns in the sidebar. Click a pattern to select it, then click on the grid to place it. Use Q/E or the rotation buttons to rotate patterns before placing.

3. Start the Simulation

   Press the large Play button or hit Space. Watch as your pattern evolves! Adjust the speed slider to go faster or slower.

4. Explore & Experiment

   Try different patterns, enable cell aging to see how long cells survive, or turn on trails to track cell movement. Zoom in/out with scroll or the zoom buttons.

5. Compete on the Leaderboard

   When your simulation reaches stability (static pattern, oscillation, or extinction), a results screen appears. Enter your initials arcade-style to record your score!

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

Master these shortcuts to navigate like a pro:

🧬 Using Evolution Mode

Evolution Mode is what makes this simulator unique. When enabled, the rules themselves can mutate.

1. Enable Evolution Mode

   Toggle the Evolution switch in the control panel. You'll see new stats appear: Pressure, Mutations, and Fitness.

2. Set Mutation Rate

   Use the slider or preset buttons (Slow, Normal, Fast, Chaos) to control how often rules mutate. Higher rates = more experimentation.

3. Watch the Rules Evolve

   The current ruleset is displayed as B#/S# notation. Watch for toast notifications when mutations occur. The system will revert harmful mutations automatically.

4. Compete in Evolution Leaderboard

   Evolution Mode has its own leaderboard! See if your initial conditions can evolve into a long-running ruleset.

⚙️ Custom Rules Editor

Want to explore beyond Conway's classic rules? The Custom Rules Editor lets you create your own Life-like automata!

How It Works

Life-like automata use B/S notation: Birth conditions and Survival conditions based on neighbor counts (0-8).

• Birth (B): How many neighbors cause a dead cell to become alive
• Survive (S): How many neighbors let a living cell survive

For example:

• B3/S23 — Conway's Life: birth on 3, survive on 2-3
• B36/S23 — HighLife: adds replicators!
• B3/S12345 — Maze: creates corridors

🎛️ Other Settings

Wrap Edges (Toroidal)

When enabled, the grid wraps around—cells leaving one edge appear on the opposite side. This creates an infinite, seamless world. Disable for bounded behavior.

Show Cell Trails

Enables fading trails that show where cells recently died. Useful for visualizing spaceship movement and oscillator patterns.

Cell Aging Colors

Colors cells based on how many generations they've survived. New cells are bright green; ancient survivors fade to pale green. Great for identifying stable structures.

🔗 Sharing Your Creations

Created an interesting pattern? Share it with friends!

1. Open Share Dialog

   Click the Share button in the header (the icon with connected dots).

2. Copy the URL

   A unique URL is generated containing your exact board state. Click Copy to copy it to your clipboard.

3. Send to Anyone

   Anyone who opens the link will see your exact pattern, ready to run!