Emergence Simulator
Cellular automata and the arrow from local rules to global order
Each cell lives or dies based only on its eight neighbors. No central controller, no global plan. Yet from these minimal local rules emerge gliders, oscillators, self-replicating structures, and unbounded computation. Edit the birth/survival rules to explore the space of possible emergent behaviors -- from explosive chaos to crystalline stillness.
Birth:
Survive:
The classic. Gliders, oscillators, and still lifes emerge from minimal rules.
gen: 0|pop: 0
Click or drag to draw cells. Each cell follows simple local rules -- birth and survival depend only on neighbor count. Complex structures emerge without any central coordination.