The purpose of Instinct is the definition and simulation of cellular automata. For this end, entities are used which live in a 2D universe. They evolve through discrete time according to rules.
Game of Life (by John Conway) is by far the most popular cellular automaton of its kind. This is but one of the almost infinite possible structures that can be defined in Instinct.
To get started, the application offers a collection of tutorials with simple yet fascinating results. It will make you familiar with the concepts of cellular automata, and will give you a basic skillset for making your own simulations. The automata that are covered in the tutuorals include:
- Game of Life
- Other Life-like automata
- WireWorld
- Cyclic cellular automata
- Greenberg-Hastings automata
- Multi-state Life-like automata (Brian's Brain)