This project is an implementation of the Game of Life automaton. The interface was built using ReactJS and the core game rules were implemented using an object oriented approach with TypeScript.

To try it out visit here, generate a random grid, or draw one out yourself and start the simulation to see the game running.

The simulation runs based on very simple rules:

• It is given a grid of indefinite dimensions (this is achieved in this project by wrapping the grid around so that the ends always meet);

• Each cell in the grid can either be dead or alive and has 8 (eight) neighbors, which are all the cells adjacent it in any direction;

• Given an initial state for the grid cells, the simulation can start and the cells will update themselves based on a set of rules. For a given generation, the next one is determined by these rules:

  • If a cell is not alive and has exactly 3 live neighbors, it becomes alive, otherwise it stays as is;

  • If a cell is alive and has 2 or 3 live neighbors, it survives. In other words, it's state doesn't change and it stays alive;

  • If a cell is alive and has less than 2 live neighbors, it dies due to isolation;

  • If a cell is alive and has more than 3 live neighbors, it dies due to overpopulation.

Based on these simple rules, a very complicated system can be created for which there is no mathematical way of proving wether it will go on forever or end completely in 100 or 1000 generations.

Inspired by this video I watched a few years ago where Conway explains how he came up with the game and what is it's mathematical purpose, I thought it would be a cool thing to program an implementation myself.