Game of Life

I am fascinated with Conway’s Game of Life. I won’t pretend to fully, or even mostly understand the mathematical implications - I just really enjoy watching the cells blink on and off and seeing what sort of patterns emerge.

This project was a way to bring Life off my computer and into something tangible that people can interact with. The grid starts out blank, and users can press any of the buttons to bring that cell to life. In this setup phase, the cells turn red. Once the game is set to run (by pressing the top left corner three times), the red cells turn green and the Game begins.

What makes this particular piece unique as far as Game of Life renditions is that it can be actively changed mid-generation. While the Game is running, people can ‘play God’ and alter the playing field in real time. Pressing an unlit cell will bring it life in the next generation, and pressing a lit cell will cause it to die.

I also programmed a variant where I implemented my own rules of Life. In the classic Game of Life, cells die if there are too many living in one area. In my variant, dense populations produce new ‘Predator’ cells that appear in a different color. There are then new rules that govern the relationships between Predators and Prey. Too many Predators reduce Prey populations, which in turn reduce Predator populations, which then gives Prey cells the ability to increase in numbers. This variation produces both stable and chaotic patterns, and give a fun and colorful spin on the classic game.

I made the Game of Life using some stained plywood (my woodworking skills and tastes have improved since then), along with touch sensitive Neopixel boards, all controlled using an Arduino.