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Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Conway's Game of Chess

Chess, but each square also follows the rules of Conway's Game of Life. Only your own pieces count as neighbours when deciding births/deaths. For births, an empty square must have 3 neighbours for 2 consecutive turns. For deaths, a piece must have 3 neighbours for 3 consecutive turns. This is a simple proof of concept I made with python and curses. You can play with a friend locally or over a socket connection. Controls: Arrow keys to move the cursor, enter/space to select and move a piece, u or backspace to undo a move, r to redo a move, q or escape to quit, s to perform a move…

Conway's Game of Chess combines traditional chess with Conway's Game of Life mechanics, where pieces on each square evolve based on neighbor counts. Players can spawn new pieces when an empty square has three neighbors… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Conway's Game of Chess launched in 2023; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

  1. 1

    Hi HN, when learning Golang (and topology), I ported a simple GOL in C (https://github.com/Jeadie/GoL) into Go. I then added a bunch of features - Playing on other fundamental polygons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_polygon#Examples_o...) - Considering all possible update rules (of which, there are many). Looking to get back to this project soon. Would love some feedback + ideas.

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  2. 2MP
  3. 3

    pouët.net - your online demoscene resource

    2020 · pouet.net · its alternatives →

  4. 4SG

    https://github.com/vnglst/stacked-game-of-life

    Feb 2026 · stacked-game-of-life.koenvangilst.nl · its alternatives →

  5. 5

    Simple Rust implementation of Conway's Game of Life - brundonsmith/life

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

  6. 6

    TypeScript playground: https://www.typescriptlang.org/play?#code/KYDwDg9gTgLgBDAnmY...

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

  7. 7

    Board game of strategy played between friends, family & kids

    2018 · play.google.com · its alternatives →

  8. 8

    I'm experimenting game mechanics that are usually seen on a typical grid, but transposed on an irregular one. This is a first game based on Minesweeper. The changes an irregular grid brings are that cells don't all have 8 neighbors. Some can have less, some can have more. So when you try and deduce if a tile has a mine, you have to pay closer attention at the number clues and which tiles neighbors it. My intention is to make a very classic game a bit more challenging & fun. I've also released a first version of Checkers/Draughts, and plan to test similar variants for Chess, Othello and…

    2024 · polyreplay.com · its alternatives →

  9. 9

    Gerrymandle is a free daily gerrymandering puzzle. Draw the district lines to win more seats than your opponents, with a new puzzle every day.

    Jun 2026 · gerrymandle.cc · its alternatives →

  10. 10

    A Rust implementation of John Conway’s Game of Life, using a zoomable infinite grid, and with access to a pattern library.

    2021 · lifeee.netlify.app · its alternatives →

  11. 11

    Truncate is a chess flavoured word game that blends spatial reasoning and wordplay. In puzzle mode, you beat back your NPC opponent's words and take over their territory. Truncate started as a pen and paper game between a friend and I, evolved into a handmade board game, and finally arrived at an online puzzle game. Like any good word game, there is of course a daily mode, shareable with the tried and true grid of emojis We've been playtesting it with friends and family for a few months, which has helped iron out the tutorials and gameplay, and we're finally happy with an MVP worth sharing!…

    2024 · truncate.town · its alternatives →

  12. 12

    This is my spin on Conway's Game of Life. I have added the ability to create an account, save grids that you have discovered, and browse the gallery of grids saved by other people and replay them. This project has served as a sandbox for me to practice various aspects of developing a comprehensive web application from scratch. This was my first time developing a full scale web app with [almost] all the features you would expect. I know it is nowhere near perfect in its current state, but I feel it has reached a point of diminishing returns, and therefore my time is better spent focussing on…

    2024 · game-of-life-f262d.web.app · its alternatives →

  13. 13HG
  14. 14

    A casual chess game where games only last 5 minutes

    2020 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

  15. 15

    Slay dragons, learn concurrency! Play the cunning Scheduler, exploit flawed programs and defeat the armies of the Parallel Wizard.

    2016 · deadlockempire.github.io · its alternatives →

  16. 16

    C++ Matrix: The Matrix Reloaded in Terminals (Number falls, Banners, Matrix rains, Conway's Game of Life and Mandelbrot set) - akinomyoga/cxxmatrix

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

  17. 17

    I posted once before but wanted to share again because a lot has changed. There's now a fairly strong bot to play against (contributed by a community member) and also correspondence games. The combination of these things helps a bit in finding people to play against.

    Aug 2026 · voronoigo.com · its alternatives →

  18. 18

    blunderchess.net is an open source, peer-to-peer chess app where every five moves, players each get to make one blunder-move for their opponent

    2025 · blunderchess.net · its alternatives →

  19. 19

    Hi HN, Matle is a daily chess puzzle inspired by Wordle. You're shown a checkmate position with 5 hidden squares, and your goal is to guess what’s on them to complete the mate. Someone kindly shared it here a few months ago before I had the chance to post it myself. I’m the creator, and wanted to share a few new features based on feedback, and hear your thoughts. You can now view the original game behind each puzzle, get explanations for why a guess isn’t checkmate, and see daily solving stats. Would love to hear what you think: https://matle.io

    2025 · matle.io · its alternatives →

  20. 20

    Hi HN! I built a simple chess game so that my son in Singapore can play chess with his grandfather in China. Why? There is currently no service or open source software that has all of the following: * All processing and assets on a single server (Critical to workaround a firewall) * No email account required (Chinese Internet services typically login via WeChat) * Works on Android browser * Simple to install and config I built it, together with Claude Code, using simple and boring technologies (Django + Client-side JS). I hope that when you use it, you will find it simple to understand…

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

  21. 21

    Play chess with friends right from Figma

    2020 · figma.com · its alternatives →

  22. 22

    Swapple - A daily puzzle game where you transform patterns by swapping rows and columns. Challenge yourself to solve it in as few moves as possible!

    2025 · swapple.fuglede.dk · its alternatives →

  23. 23

    Benchmarking 10 dynamic languages on array-heavy code - rusini/life10-benchmarks

    2019 · github.com · its alternatives →

  24. 24

    Interactive cellular automaton simulator with AI

    2025 · life.angen.ai · its alternatives →

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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →