3D Life

3D Life is a cellular automata game in which simple rules produce patterns of cells that grow, blink and glide through mathematical space. Cells live or die according to the number of live neighbors: too many leads to overcrowding, too few to underpopulation, while empty cells come to life when they have a certain number of live neighbors. Each rule set produces distinct behavior.

Control the simulation

Use a stopwatch to start or stop cell movement and slow down or speed up the simulation. A flashlight lets you generate cells in three ways: randomly, frozen until the algorithm discovers them, or as spaceships. Randomly generated cells are symmetric around one axis to increase the chance of spontaneous spaceships.

Rules and spaceships

The game has 14 rule sets, each with its own patterns and behavior, and supports more than 20 million cells. It includes 23 spaceships: patterns that move on their own and repeat after a number of generations. You can create them in any direction and orientation.

Play modes

• Random cells: generate cells randomly, with symmetry around one axis.
• Frozen cells: place cells that remain frozen until discovered by the algorithm.
• Spaceships: create moving patterns that repeat after a number of generations.