The Score of Life

John Conway was a mathematician who created a simple game: let shaded-in squares on a grid represent living organisms that follow three rules:

• The organism survives if it has two or three other organisms next to it.
• The organism dies if it is surrounded by more than three organisms (due to overpopulation) or less than two organisms (due to isolation).
• A new organism is born in an empty space surrounded by exactly three organisms (from reproduction).

This is called Conway's Game of Life, and it is an example of how complex and chaotic patterns can arise from simple rules and patterns. It's beautiful to watch in action, but how would it sound?

The Score of Life assigns each row of the grid to a musical note and each column to a beat. Click on cells to bring them to life, press play to watch them grow and retreat, and use the patterns you find to solve puzzles.