Two states, three neighbours, 256 possible rules. Program the rule directly: type a Wolfram code, or flip the eight output bits in the table below. Each row of the diagram is one moment in time; time flows downward. The boundary is a torus (wraps around).
Each cell looks at its left neighbour, itself, and its right neighbour โ eight possible patterns (111โฆ000). The rule says what colour that cell becomes next. Those eight outputs, read as binary, form the rule number (0โ255).
The top row is the seed. Every row below is computed from the one above it, so the picture is the automaton's entire history at a glance.
Class 1 โ settles to a uniform state.
Class 2 โ stable or periodic structures.
Class 3 โ chaotic / random-looking.
Class 4 โ complex: localized structures interact; the edge of chaos where computation can live.
Space play/pause ยท S step ยท R reseed.
Type a rule number or click the output bits to define any of the 256 rules yourself.