Curated Experiments
The sandbox is open-ended, which can be overwhelming. These ten experiments are designed to be run in sequence, each one illuminating a different aspect of cellular automata. Each includes a setup, an observation target, and a pointer to the content page that explains what you’re seeing. Start with experiment 1 if you’re new; jump to any experiment if you already know what you’re looking for.
Introduction
How to use these experiments: each one is self-contained and takes between 2 and 10 minutes to run and observe. The experiments are organized to build intuition progressively — from basic Life dynamics through variant rules to more complex phenomena.
Experiment 1: The R-Pentomino — Chaos from Five Cells
Setup: clear the grid; draw five cells in the R-pentomino shape (a 2×3 rectangle with one corner missing); press play. Observation target: watch the pattern run for its full 1,103 generations before stabilizing. Count the gliders that escape. What it illustrates: the disproportionate complexity that small initial configurations can generate — the founding intuition of Life research.
Experiment 2: The Gosper Glider Gun
Setup: load the Gosper Glider Gun preset (36 cells); press play. Observation target: watch the gun fire gliders indefinitely; observe the diagonal stream of gliders and the way the gun oscillates internally. What it illustrates: infinite growth, periodic behavior, and the concept of a pattern that generates other patterns.
Experiment 3: Two Glider Guns Aimed at Each Other
Setup: load the Gosper Glider Gun; add a second one rotated 180 degrees and aimed directly at the first. Observation target: watch the colliding glider streams produce new objects — still lifes, oscillators, or new gliders depending on exact alignment. What it illustrates: glider collision dynamics and the use of collisions as logic gates.
Experiment 4: The Acorn — A Long Wait
Setup: draw the Acorn (7 cells); press play; set simulation speed to maximum. Observation target: let the simulation run for all 5,206 generations; note when the pattern is chaotic and when it begins to organize. What it illustrates: the extended timescale of methuselah behavior and the eventual convergence to a stable population.
Experiment 5: HighLife and the Replicator
Setup: switch rule to HighLife (B36/S23); draw the replicator pattern; press play. Observation target: watch the replicator produce an exact copy of itself within 36 generations, then watch the copies replicate further. What it illustrates: spontaneous self-replication from a single rule change.
Experiment 6: Day & Night — Randomness to Stripes
Setup: switch rule to Day & Night (B3678/S34678); fill the grid with 50% random noise; press play. Observation target: the initial randomness rapidly organizes into large coherent regions separated by boundaries. Note the symmetry — dark regions and light regions behave identically. What it illustrates: the Day & Night symmetry and the spontaneous emergence of large-scale structure from noise.
Experiment 7: Seeds — Explosion Without Memory
Setup: switch rule to Seeds (B2/S); draw three or four cells in a cluster; press play. Observation target: the immediate explosive expansion, the way diagonal structures propagate, and the absence of any consolidation into stable forms. What it illustrates: the separation of birth dynamics from survival — birth alone is sufficient for sustained propagation.
Experiment 8: Brian’s Brain — A Galaxy of Gliders
Setup: switch rule to Brian’s Brain (B2/S/3, a Generations rule); fill the grid with random noise; press play. Observation target: the immediate appearance of dozens of gliders moving in all directions; the kinetic energy of the rule compared to Conway’s Life. What it illustrates: how the dying state in Generations rules changes the dynamics fundamentally.
Experiment 9: SmoothLife — The Grid Dissolves
Setup: switch rule to SmoothLife; fill the grid with random noise; press play. Observation target: the fluid, amoeba-like motion of emerging structures; the absence of pixelated edges; the organic, biological aesthetic. What it illustrates: the generalization of Life to continuous space and what changes.
Experiment 10: A Random Soup at Critical Density
Setup: return to Conway’s Life; use the density fill tool at 37% density; press play. Observation target: watch the rapid initial collapse, the slower resolution of methuselahs, and the eventual stable population of still lifes and oscillators. Compare the final density to the initial density. What it illustrates: the statistical behavior of Life at the critical density and the generic long-run behavior of Life from random starts.