Who made Conway’s Game of Life?

Conway’s Game of Life was published by Alan Hensel, released in 1996.

What kind of game is Conway’s Game of Life?

Conway’s Game of Life is a simulator, strategy game for the MS-DOS.

Can two people play Conway’s Game of Life?

No. Conway’s Game of Life is a single-player game, so it has no two-player mode.

How much data does Conway’s Game of Life load?

The Conway’s Game of Life ROM is 562 kB. It is fetched once when you press play and then cached by your browser, so returning to the game does not download it again.

Conway’s Game of Life (1996) - DOS

Name: Conway’s Game of Life
Availability: InStock
Author: Alan Hensel

Action / Button	Keyboard Key
D-Pad (Up / Down / Left / Right)	`Arrow Keys`
Button A	`Z` or `J`
Button B	`X` or `K`
Button X / Turbo A	`A` or `U`
Button Y / Turbo B	`S` or `I`
Select	`Shift`
Start	`Enter`

Gamepad Input	Retro Function	Keyboard Key
D-Pad / Analog	Character Movement / Steering	`▲` `▼` `◄` `►`
Button A (East)	Primary Action / Attack / Fire	`Z` / `K`
Button B (South)	Secondary / Jump / Cancel	`X` / `J`
Button X / Y	Special / Turbo / Extra Fire	`A` / `S`
Select	Insert Coin / Select Option	`Right Shift`
Start	Game Start / Pause Game	`Enter`

Gamepad Input

Retro Function

Keyboard Key

D-Pad / Analog

Character Movement / Steering

▲ ▼ ◄ ►

Button A (East)

Primary Action / Attack / Fire

Z / K

Button B (South)

Secondary / Jump / Cancel

X / J

Button X / Y

Special / Turbo / Extra Fire

A / S

Select

Insert Coin / Select Option

Right Shift

Start

Game Start / Pause Game

Enter

Emulator Core Engine	Technology	Multiplayer	Gamepad	Touch	Ads	Action / Switch
EmulatorJS (Default WebAssembly)	`WebAssembly / JS`	YES	YES	YES	NO	▶ ACTIVE
MS-DOS (Recommended)	`WebAssembly / Libretro`	YES	YES	YES	NO	PLAY ⚡
JS-DOS v3.0 / DOSBox Engine	`Emscripten C++`	YES	YES	NO	NO	PLAY ⚡

Emulator Core Engine

Technology

Multiplayer

Gamepad

Touch

Ads

Action / Switch

EmulatorJS (Default WebAssembly)

WebAssembly / JS

YES

▶ ACTIVE

MS-DOS (Recommended)

WebAssembly / Libretro

YES

PLAY ⚡

JS-DOS v3.0 / DOSBox Engine

Emscripten C++

YES

PLAY ⚡

Conway’s Game of Life, programmed for DOS by Alan Hensel in 1996, is a highly optimized simulator implementing the famous cellular automaton. Operating purely on a few simple mathematical rules, it serves as a zero-player strategy game where your initial setup dictates everything that follows.

How to Play

The experience is driven by cellular evolution rather than direct action. You set up a starting configuration of “living” cells on a grid and let the simulation run. A cell survives if it has two or three living neighbors, and a dead space comes to life if it is surrounded by exactly three. Otherwise, cells die from isolation or overcrowding. You use standard MS-DOS keyboard controls to navigate the board, place or erase cells, and start the simulation.

Tips

Experiment with well-known repeating patterns like the Glider, which travels across the grid endlessly, or simple oscillators like the Blinker.
Because Hensel’s DOS implementation is highly optimized for speed, it is an excellent sandbox for testing massive starting structures to see how they evolve.