game-of-life-tui 1.2.0

Conway's Game of Life in your terminal with an interactive TUI

Game of Life TUI

A beautiful, interactive terminal-based implementation of Conway's Game of Life built with Python and Textual.

Features

• Vibrant Rainbow Colors - Cells cycle through cyan→green→yellow→magenta→blue as they age
• Zero Dependencies - 100% pure Python, installs with a single pip command
• Interactive TUI - Beautiful terminal interface optimized for 80x24 screens
• Theme Support - Switch between multiple themes with Ctrl+\
• Preset Patterns - Spawn gliders, blinkers, and other classic patterns (keys 1-5)
• Save/Load - Persist your creations to JSON files
• Cross-Platform - Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows

Installation

pip install game-of-life-tui

Quick Start

After installation, run:

game-of-life-tui

First Steps

1. Press R to generate random cells
2. Press P to start the simulation
3. Press +/- to adjust speed
4. Press Ctrl+\ to change themes

Controls

Key	Action
P	Play/Pause simulation
S	Step one generation (when paused)
Space	Toggle cell at cursor
Arrow Keys	Move cursor
R	Fill with random cells
C	Clear all cells
1-5	Spawn preset patterns
+ / -	Adjust speed
Ctrl+\	Change theme
Ctrl+S	Save grid
Ctrl+L	Load grid
Q or Esc	Quit

Cell Colors (Meaningful Rainbow)

• Cyan (Age 1) - Newborn cells
• Green (Age 2) - Young cells
• Yellow (Age 3) - Mature cells
• Magenta (Age 4) - Old cells
• Blue (Age 5+) - Ancient survivors

Watch as patterns evolve and cells age through the rainbow spectrum!

Game Rules

Conway's Game of Life follows these simple rules:

1. Survival: A live cell with 2-3 live neighbors survives
2. Birth: A dead cell with exactly 3 live neighbors becomes alive
3. Death: All other cells die or remain dead

The grid wraps around edges (toroidal topology) for seamless gameplay.

Examples

Spawn a Glider

1. Run game-of-life-tui
2. Press 1 to place a glider
3. Press P to watch it travel

Create Custom Patterns

1. Press P to pause
2. Use arrow keys to navigate
3. Press Space to toggle cells
4. Press P to run your creation

Experiment with Chaos

1. Press R for random cells
2. Press P to start
3. Watch patterns emerge!

Requirements

• Python 3.8 or higher
• textual >= 0.47.0 (automatically installed)

No system dependencies required!

Links

• GitHub: https://github.com/josephvolmer/game-of-life-tui
• Issues: https://github.com/josephvolmer/game-of-life-tui/issues

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

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Made with Python and Textual