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Product Code: MKAD3
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Description How To
 
Evolve or die! Here's a simple electronic project that plays Conway's Game of Life. Invented by Jeff Conway in 1970, it's a mathematical game that simulates "colonies" that grow or die based on how crowded or lonely they are, and it's known for the way it creates a beautiful organic display out of randomness. Make one kit and keep it on your desk, or attach multiple kit modules together to create a large display.

Originally created by Dropout Design, this revision adds a few extra features. The kit is very easy to make, and an excellent first electronics project. It's perfect for workshops, because at the end everyone can connect their completed modules together.
Features
  • Each kit displays a 4x4 grid (16 LEDs) on a 3"x3" board
  • Connect as many kits as you'd like, in any configuration, to create a larger game board
  • Runs on 2 AA batteries (not included), but can be easily modified to run on USB or wall-wart power
  • On/Off button saves power, also resets the display
  • Automatically resets if the colony has died or stagnated (regeneration)
  • Backward-compatible with older versions

    The cube shown below is 4 kits soldered together into a cube -- way cool!


    Game of Life -- An electronics kit from MAKE magazine on Vimeo.

Average Customer Review: 4 of 5 | Total Reviews: 2 Write a review.


  1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 
Loads of blinky fun July 15, 2010
Reviewer: John Boxall from Toowong, Queensland Australia  
This was a really fun and stress-free kit to assemble... sometimes you just want something to while away a few hours and not think too much about - this is the perfect kit. Once operational, it does need a kick in the pants to reset the patter, I must get around to adding a 5 minute timer to the reset circuit to make it an automatic process. Otherwise, very happy, and if I had the spare money would buy nine of them and make a huuuuuuge game of life! Have documented my assembly at http://wp.me/pQmjR-wG

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  2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 
My first electronics kit ever April 28, 2010
Reviewer: Steven Wood from Stamford, CT United States  
So I just spent the past 30 minutes assembling the Game of Life kit from Make magazine.  I wanted to try my hand at making something that required soldering and electronic parts.  The kit is very complete, but does not come with instructions.  Instead, a web address is provided that contains a very clear and detailed procedure.  The kit contains no extra parts.  I found it extremely simple to put together, and had no difficulty at all.  The final product, however, isn't incredibly exciting as the board is simply too small to be able to appreciate the rules of the Game of Life.  There are only 16 LEDs and they blink very rapidly.  It's too difficult to interpret what you are seeing as rules.  I also wish the program would break itself out of steady states.  If the game gets into a rule set that creates a flashing pattern, it won't reset without human interaction.  This is very unfortunate, as it renders the board useless as desktop art.

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