Game of Life — R-Pentomino
Conway's zero-player game seeded with a five-cell configuration that takes 1103 generations to stabilise.
The Rules
Conway’s Game of Life operates on an infinite grid of cells, each alive or dead. At each generation, every cell is updated simultaneously by four rules:
- A live cell with fewer than 2 live neighbours dies (underpopulation)
- A live cell with 2 or 3 live neighbours survives
- A live cell with more than 3 live neighbours dies (overpopulation)
- A dead cell with exactly 3 live neighbours becomes alive (reproduction)
The R-pentomino: five cells arranged in an asymmetric S-shape. Despite its simplicity, this is one of the most studied initial configurations in the Game of Life.
Explosive Growth
Most five-cell patterns stabilise quickly. The R-pentomino does not. It evolves chaotically for 1103 generations before producing a final population of 116 stable cells, 8 gliders, and 6 blocks.
Generation 1103: the final stable configuration. From five cells, the R-pentomino fills an area spanning roughly 60×60 cells. The gliders — still travelling outward — have already left the frame. The complex final pattern is entirely determined by the simple initial conditions and the four rules.