Conway Game of Life Simulator compared with Golly| Conway Game of Life Simulator | Golly |
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| Delivery and installation: Runs in the browser through the embedded LifeViewer on conwaylife.com. Nothing to install, so it suits teaching and quick tests. | Delivery and installation: A desktop application for Windows, macOS and Linux, with separate apps for iPad and Android. Version 5.0 was released in October 2025. |
| Rules and models: Focused on Conway Game of Life and related cellular automata. The site links to LifeWiki and Catagolue for known patterns. | Rules and models: Supports Conway Life plus von Neumann 29-state, Wolfram 1D rules, WireWorld, Generations, Paterson Worms and Larger than Life. New rules can be added with RuleLoader. |
| Scale and algorithms: A large grid for an online tool, with drawing, erasing and step-back at any stage. Limits come from the browser. | Scale and algorithms: Bounded and unbounded universes with up to 256 cell states, and several algorithms including Hashlife, which handles very large and long-running patterns. |
| Scripting and analysis: Interactive use only. Edits are made by hand on the grid. | Scripting and analysis: Scripts in Lua or Python allow batch runs, pattern generation and measurements. This matters for research on complex systems. |
| Typical user: Students and newcomers learning how still lifes, oscillators and spaceships behave. | Typical user: Researchers and advanced hobbyists searching for patterns or testing other automata rules. |