Game of Life is a cellular automaton, which essentially is a grid of cells that follow certain rules to evolve one generation at a time. The Game of Life is typically demonstrated on a 2D grid and it follows just 4 simple rules.
- Any live cell with fewer than two live neighbours dies, as if caused by underpopulation.
- Any live cell with two or three live neighbours lives on to the next generation.
- Any live cell with more than three live neighbours dies, as if by overpopulation.
- Any dead cell with exactly three live neighbours becomes a live cell, as if by reproduction.
These 4 rules (coming straight from Wikipedia) are simple, but the patterns that emerge are very complicated. Below are relevant links.