Cellular Automaton Rule 30 Screensaver
The Cellular Automaton Rule 30 screensaver runs the real Wolfram Rule 30 automaton live, generating complex patterns from one simple rule. It is free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
How the Cellular Automaton Rule 30 screensaver works
The saver computes each new row of cells from the row above using the real, well-documented Rule 30 lookup table.
Despite the rule's simplicity, the result is a genuinely complex, non-repeating triangular pattern.
Once the pattern reaches the bottom of the screen, a fresh single-cell seed starts a new run at the top.
Rule 30 is the same automaton Stephen Wolfram used to argue that simple rules can produce real computational complexity.
A worked example
A single seed cell at the top expands into an increasingly intricate triangular pattern, with genuinely unpredictable structure despite the rule's simplicity.
Settings & tips
- Accent recolours the live cells.
- Based on the real, well-documented Wolfram Rule 30 automaton.
- The pattern never repeats — Rule 30 is known to generate genuine pseudo-randomness.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this a real, published rule?
- Yes — Rule 30 is a real, well-documented cellular automaton studied by Stephen Wolfram and others.
- Is a key needed?
- No — it is a pure local computation.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free, no download, in your browser.
- Does the pattern repeat?
- Rule 30 is known to generate genuinely non-repeating, pseudo-random patterns.