Conway's Game of Life

Pattern Files for Chapter 1: Early Life

RLE, Macrocell, or LifeHistory code for all patterns that are displayed as figures in Chapter 1: Early Life are provided here. These patterns can be viewed in-browser by clicking on the "Show in Viewer" link near the code, or the patterns can be viewed and manipulated by copying and pasting the RLE code into Game of Life software like Golly.

Figure 1.2: first example

A line of four cells evolves into a beehive.

Figure 1.4: random 1

Some random scribbling.

Figure 1.5: random 2

Some more random scribbling.

Figure 1.6: first objects

Some commonly-occurring objects. From left to right, these are called: block, tub, boat, ship, beehive, loaf, pond, blinker, and glider.

Figure 1.7: Pulsar

A period 3 oscillator. Despite its size, this is the fourth most common oscillator (and by far the most common of period greater than 2).
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Pulsar

Figure 1.8: random oscillators

Four oscillators. From left to right: toad, beacon, clock, and pentadecathlon.

Figure 1.9: Lightweight spaceship

A very well-known period 4 c/2 orthogonal spaceship.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Lightweight_spaceship

Figure 1.10: lwss mwss hwss

A lightweight, middleweight, and heavyweight spaceship.

Figure 1.11: t tetromino

The T-tetromino.

Figure 1.12: pre honey farm

A pre-honey farm.

Figure 1.13: Stairstep hexomino

One of 35 hexominoes. It is a predecessor of the blockade.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Stairstep_hexomino

Figure 1.14: Pi-heptomino

One of 108 heptominoes.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Pi-heptomino

Figure 1.15: Queen bee

A pattern that lays a beehive on either side of itself before exploding.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Queen_bee

Figure 1.16: beehive block

A block eating a beehive.

Figure 1.17: Queen bee shuttle

A period 30 oscillator.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Queen_bee_shuttle

Figure 1.18: Gosper glider gun

A true period 30 glider gun. The first known gun and the first known finite pattern with unbounded growth.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Gosper_glider_gun

Figure 1.19: B-heptomino

A very common unstable pattern with lifespan 148 that often arises with the cell at top left shifted one space upward, which does not affect the subsequent evolution.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/B-heptomino

Figure 1.20: Twin bees

Two B-heptominoes close to each other partially stabilize each other.

Figure 1.21: twin bees debris eat

Two blocks eating the debris left behind by twin bees.

Figure 1.22: Twin bees shuttle

Twin bees shuttle was found in 1971 and is the basis of most known period 46 oscillators.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Twin_bees_shuttle

Figure 1.23: New gun 1

A true period 46 gun. The second known basic gun.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/New_gun_1

Figure 1.24: Switch engine

An unstable pattern that moves 8 cells diagonally in 96 generations while leaving chaotic debris behind. It can be used to make c/12 diagonal puffers and spaceships.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Switch_engine

Figure 1.25: switch engine block

A pattern that evolves into a block-laying switch engine.

Figure 1.26: switch engine glider

A pattern that evolves into a glider-producing switch engine.

Figure 1.27: ark 1

An ark.

Figure 1.28: R-pentomino

A methuselah with lifespan 1103.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/R-pentomino

Table 1.1(5): 5 cell methuselahs

Three 5-cell configurations that live a long time.

Table 1.1(6): 6 cell methuselahs

Three 6-cell configurations that live a long time.

Table 1.1(7): Acorn

A methuselah with lifespan 5206.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Acorn

Table 1.1(8): 7468M

A methuselah with lifespan 7468 found on February 20, 2005.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/7468M

Table 1.1(9): Bunnies 9

A methuselah with lifespan 17410 that evolves similarly to bunnies.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Bunnies_9

Table 1.1(10): Bunnies 10b

A 10-cell methuselah with lifespan 17431. Found in November 2019.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=85058#p85058

Table 1.1(11): 23334M

An 11-cell methuselah with lifespan 23334. Found by Simon Ekström in May 2016 based on an earlier pattern by Tomas Rokicki.

Table 1.1(12): methuselah 12

A 12-cell methuselah with lifespan 23801. Found by Simon Ekström in February 2017.

Table 1.1(13): Lidka

A methuselah with lifespan 29126.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Lidka

Figure 1.29: 52514M

A methuselah with a lifespan of 52514 generations. Based on a 52513- generation methuselah that was found by Dylan Chen via apgsearch.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/52514M

Figure 1.30: ark 736692

A 16-cell methuselah(?) that takes a whopping 736692 generations to stabilize.

Figure 1.32: block parents

Block parents

Figure 1.34: goe theorem tiles example

An example of a pattern made up of 6x6 tiles, some of which contain just blocks in the center, as in the proof of the Garden of Eden theorem.

Figure 1.35: goe 1

A Garden of Eden in Conway's Game of Life.

Figure 1.36(a): goe record alive

The smallest known Garden of Eden (by number of alive cells).

Figure 1.36(b): goe record orphan

The smallest known Garden of Eden (by size of its orphan).

Figure 1.36(c): goe record bb

The smallest known Garden of Eden (by number of cells in its bounding box).

Figure 1.37: 1 row border

A border that can be helpful when creating predecessors of 1-cell thick patterns.

Figure 1.40: 1 row eg

A pattern that evolves into a specific 1-cell-thick pattern.

Figure 1.41: goe height 5

A Garden of Eden with height 5.

Figure 1.42: grandparentless

A pattern with no grandparent.

Figure 1.43: grandparentless parent

A parent of a pattern with no grandparent.

Figure 1.46(a): nonomino

A nonomino that evolves in the same way as the switch engine.

Figure 1.46(b): Switch engine

An unstable pattern that moves 8 cells diagonally in 96 generations while leaving chaotic debris behind. It can be used to make c/12 diagonal puffers and spaceships.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Switch_engine

Exercise 1.1(a): random 1

A random 16x16 pattern with an interesting evolution.

Exercise 1.1(b): random 2

A random 16x16 pattern with an interesting evolution.

Exercise 1.1(c): random 3

A random 16x16 pattern with an interesting evolution.

Exercise 1.1(d): random 4

A random 16x16 pattern with an interesting evolution.

Exercise 1.3: pentominoes

All 12 pentominoes.

Exercise 1.4: Hat

A 9-cell still life.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Hat

Exercise 1.7(a): random sym 1

A random symmetric pattern with an interesting evolution.

Exercise 1.7(b): random sym 2

A random symmetric pattern with an interesting evolution.

Exercise 1.7(c): random sym 3

A random symmetric pattern with an interesting evolution.

Exercise 1.7(d): random sym 4

A random symmetric pattern with an interesting evolution.

Exercise 1.8(1): fleet

A fleet.

Exercise 1.8(2): bakery

A bakery.

Exercise 1.9: beehive pair

Two beehives next to each other.

Exercise 1.10: beehive eater 1

An eater 1 eating a pre-beehive

Exercise 1.11: Bunnies

A methuselah and parent of rabbits.
More info: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Bunnies

Exercise 1.12: Edna

A methuselah that fits within a 20x20 bounding box.

Exercise 1.13: 8cell meth

An 8-cell methuselah found by Nick Gotts in 2019.

Exercise 1.14: noahs ark

A puffer called Noah's ark, which consists of two switch engines.

Exercise 1.15: goe height 1

A pattern with height 1.

Exercise 1.17: ark

A 19-cell pattern that takes more than 2^22 generations to stabilize.

Exercise 1.19: goe jls

A pattern for which we want to find a predecessor via JavaLifeSearch

Solution 1.8(a): fleet

An object that evolves into a fleet.

Solution 1.8(b): bakery

Two 8-cell objects that evolve into bakeries.

Solution 1.9(b): 1 beehive shuttle

Two queen bees that are stabilized at 90 degrees from each other.