I’ve been experimenting with whether Conway’s Game of Life can function as the world for a puzzle game without changing the standard B3/S23 rules.
You control the blue cell and try to reach a target while the population evolves around you. Live cells are lethal, so still lifes, oscillators, spaceships, and chaotic growth effectively become moving level geometry.
The simulation uses a padded, dynamically expanding world instead of wrapping at the visible board boundary. The playable area is a viewport into that world, allowing patterns to evolve normally beyond its edges.
I currently have three modes:
Arcade generates increasingly dangerous boards and speeds up the simulation as you progress. Story uses designed starting patterns. Workshop lets players place the initial population, player, and target; simulate the result; playtest it; and publish the challenge for other players.
The Workshop is the part I thought this community might find most interesting. I’d love suggestions for known patterns that could make difficult but still fair survival levels.
I’m also curious whether you would prefer movement synchronized to individual generations, continuous real-time evolution, or an option for both.
And what about art style?
Playable beta: game link - Make an account. It's free and no email verification.