Conway's Mutations

Conway’s Mutations is a puzzle game inspired by John Conway’s famous Game of Life cellular automaton.

Evolution Rules

The grid consists of black cells (alive) and white cells (dead). At each step, the grid evolves according to the classic Game of Life rules:

• Underpopulation: Any live cell with fewer than two live neighbors dies.
• Survival: Any live cell with two or three live neighbors lives on to the next generation.
• Overpopulation: Any live cell with more than three live neighbors dies.
• Reproduction: Any dead cell with exactly three live neighbors becomes a live cell.

How to Play

Before advancing each step, you will induce mutations by clicking on cells on the left grid to flip their state (black to white or vice versa).

• Mutated cells are highlighted with a red border so you can easily track your changes.
• Clicking a mutated cell again will revert it to its original step state and remove the red border.

Once you have placed your mutations for the current step, click Advance Step to let the evolution rules take over. Your goal is to match the Target Configuration (on the right) in exactly the prescribed number of steps.

Pro-Tip: Conway’s Mutations is harder than it looks! Because a single mutated cell can dramatically alter the future of the entire grid, we strongly recommend starting with 1 step while learning the mechanics.