# GOL-012: Free Cell

The grid becomes a habitat rather than the organism: independent units reproduce, move, stay, or die from local crowding, following authored compass preferences through deterministic conflicts.

[Open simulation](https://100gol.com/experiments/012) · [Directory](https://100gol.com/experiments)

## What to explore

Independent units should visibly reproduce and travel through a habitat while
all simultaneous conflicts remain fair and reproducible. The original dense-field
composition was intended to sustain both birth and movement for hundreds of Steps; mechanical correctness
that becomes extinct almost immediately does not satisfy the experiment.

## Rules, update order and replay

Every Step freezes occupancy and Moore counts. Only occupied positions contain
units and evaluate behavior. Birth proposals resolve first through a complete
ranked compass order; accepted newborns reserve their targets and do not act
until the next Step. Each parent then dies, moves, explicitly survives, or stays
according to its count. Movement considers only positions empty in the frozen
field and excludes accepted births, so units cannot swap or follow into a
same-Step vacancy. Unique claims succeed. Multiply claimed destinations accept
no one, and all contenders retry their next preference synchronously. State has
no unit IDs and includes occupancy, source outcomes, destination events,
accepted birth/movement targets, and generation. Replay requires full state,
configuration, topology, profile, and start. Reset/Clear/manual edits clear
transient evidence.

## Reading the simulation

The renderer distinguishes established units, newborns, movement arrivals,
deaths, departures, contested births, and contested moves. Inspection pauses the
world, outlines the selected position and frozen-empty candidates, runs the exact
field-wide deterministic preview, and reports count, matching actions, ordered
candidate counts, accepted targets, prior evidence, and the source's next fate.
Every evidence class is named in text and legend as well as color.

## Reproduce a starting configuration

[Download example JSON](https://100gol.com/api/experiments/012/configuration). Import it using Share & reproduce in the simulation controls. It starts paused at Step zero. Files contain rules and initial conditions, not evolved boards or manual edits. See [format, limitations and automated access](https://100gol.com/agents).