Eater 1
still life
Also called the fishhook. It swallows an incoming glider and repairs itself in four generations, which makes it the essential buil…
Gallery
The house catalogue of classic patterns plus everything the community has saved. Every tile is a live simulation - open any of them in the Lab and take them apart.
Barge
still life
Two tubs sharing a diagonal. Barges are members of the same extensible family as boats and ships.
Beehive
still life
Six cells in a hexagon. After the block, the second most common thing a random soup settles into.
Block
still life
The simplest still life and the most common object in a random soup. Four cells, each with three neighbours - perfectly balanced, …
Boat
still life
The smallest still life that is not symmetrical under all four rotations. A boat with one extra cell becomes a long boat; a boat p…
Loaf
still life
A beehive with a tail. Loaves frequently appear in pairs and fours - a 'bakery' - in the ash left behind by larger reactions.
Long boat
still life
A boat stretched by one diagonal step. The family continues: very long boat, very very long boat, and so on.
Pond
still life
An eight-cell ring. Ponds often appear as the residue of a collision and sit there forever.
Ship
still life
A diagonal still life. Extendable indefinitely into 'long ships' by inserting more diagonal steps.
Tub
still life
Four cells around a hole. Add a cell to any corner and you get a boat.