Best Golly alternatives: games like Golly

10+ similar games compared and reviewed

4.4 avg rating

10 free games

Updated October 2026

Andrew Trevorrow

🕹 Simulation

Golly is great, but it's not the only option. Explore 10+ similar apps and games for iPhone and iPad, each reviewed and rated by real users. Find free alternatives, premium upgrades, and hidden gems.

Top Alternatives to Golly

#1

Life: The Game by Jan P. Barnholt

Conway's cellular automaton

Editor's Choice

4.0(3 ratings)

Free

Life: The Game screenshot 1

Life: The Game screenshot 2

Life: The Game screenshot 3

Life: The Game screenshot 4

Life: The Game screenshot 5

Life: The Game screenshot 6

Explore Conway's Game of Life, a cellular automaton where simple patterns evolve into complex structures or disappear. Discover over 90 included patterns, analyze their evolution with built-in statistics, and rewind to observe changes. Export your creations as images or RLE files.

#2

Game of Life Cellular Automata by Nathan Pool

See your patterns come alive!

Strong Contender

4.4😊(79 ratings)

Free

Game of Life Cellular Automata screenshot 1

Game of Life Cellular Automata screenshot 2

Game of Life Cellular Automata screenshot 3

Game of Life Cellular Automata screenshot 4

Game of Life Cellular Automata screenshot 5

Game of Life Cellular Automata screenshot 6

Explore John Conway's classic cellular automata simulation. Watch complex patterns emerge and evolve from simple rules on your iPhone or iPad.

What We Love

👍 Well-done app
👍 Free and no adware
👍 Good implementation of Conway's Game of Life
👍 Clean and functioning perfectly
👍 Comfortable dark theme
👍 Good for demonstrating concepts
👍 Interesting properties shown
👍 Classy, no adware
👍 Works very well
👍 Super accurate & very fun
👍 Nice free simulation
👍 Simple and useful
👍 Good basic features
👍 Best implementation seen

Room to Improve

📏 Small screen/board size
🐛 Borders break machines
🐛 Grid disappears when zoomed out
🐛 Time stops when no changes occur
🐛 Limited customization
🐛 Basic and bare bones
🐛 No clear settings button
🐛 Large board size removed

#3

IdleSpiral by Idle System, Inc.

Spiral math beauty savored

Worth Considering

4.3😐(77 ratings)

FreeAdsIn-App Purchases

IdleSpiral screenshot 1

IdleSpiral screenshot 2

IdleSpiral screenshot 3

IdleSpiral screenshot 4

IdleSpiral screenshot 5

IdleSpiral screenshot 6

An idle, incremental game where players aim to grow a spiral. It combines simple gameplay with mathematical beauty for long-term engagement.

What We Love

👍 Great game overall
💡 Interesting idle/incremental mechanics
🔢 Generates big numbers
✨ Satisfying progression
🎨 Can make cool patterns
💰 Optional ads
💯 Well thought out and polished
😊 Relaxing to play

Room to Improve

🐛 Game glitches and bugs
🔋 Drains battery quickly
📱 Phone gets very hot
📉 Progress halts without active play
💸 Premium currency hard to accumulate
⏳ Ads are long and often unrewarded
😵 Confusing at first
🐌 Slow progress without active play
🪲 Ads don't always give rewards
📱 Not well adapted for phone
📉 Offline gains broken
🪲 Ads don't reward
🪲 Daily bonus not working
🪲 Social sharing broken
🪲 Save process issues
🪲 Spiral equations not working
🪲 Offline enemy kills don't count
🪲 Difficulty doesn't increase offline

More games like Golly

Create your own world by placing various elements like sand, water, and lava on a gravity field. This simulation game allows for boundless creativity in designing unique planetary landscapes. Explore the possibilities of a sandbox environment where you are the architect of your own planet.

World creation sandboxGravity field simulationPlace sand, water, seeds, lava

Compare with Golly

Exponential Idle

Exponential Idle

Exponential Idle

An incremental idle game

Engage in a math-inspired incremental game where you strategically stack virtual money through exponential growth. Advance through time, make variable changes, and purchase upgrades to accelerate your earnings and unlock achievements.

Exponential growth mechanicsTime progressionChange of variables

free with in-app purchases

Compare with Golly

The sphere will mesmerize you.

Experience a visually stunning incremental game centered around spheres. Watch countless spheres come to life with synchronized graphics and in-game currency. Enjoy intuitive upgrades, a deep prestige system, and a wealth of content in this mesmerizing adventure.

Visually stunning sphere graphicsSynchronized in-game currency and visualsIntuitive upgrade system

free with in-app purchases

Compare with Golly

Ball Chaos - Visual Playground

Ball Chaos - Visual Playground

Ball Chaos - Visual Playground

Create Satisfying Animations

Create mesmerizing motion, satisfying physics scenes, and viral short-form content. This app offers a creative playground for artists and creators, providing ADHD-friendly stimulation and relaxing visual patterns through dynamic simulations.

Satisfying motion simulationCustomizable scenes and physicsViral content creation tools

free with in-app purchases

Compare with Golly

Space Crash Simulator

Space Crash Simulator

Space Crash Simulator

SPH Planet Collisions

Experience realistic planetary collisions with a powerful physics engine. Customize your own cosmic events by adjusting particle count, velocity, and accuracy, or jump straight into high-energy impacts. This app offers a detailed, physics-based simulation for educational or entertainment purposes.

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) simulationReal-time planetary collisionsCustomizable simulation parameters

free with in-app purchases

Compare with Golly

Physics and chemistry sandbox

Explore a physics sandbox where you can simulate the interactions of various elements like water, fire, and gunpowder. Witness unique reactions and emergent phenomena as different 'dots' collide and influence each other.

Physics simulation with powder elementsOver 30 different dot variationsSimulate element reactions

Compare with Golly

ProgressBar95 - retro arcade

ProgressBar95 - retro arcade

ProgressBar95 - retro arcade

Old school games

Experience a nostalgic hyper-casual game with retro arcade visuals. Fill the progress bar by moving it with one finger to win. This addictive time killer offers simple controls and endless gameplay.

Nostalgic retro visualsOne-finger controlFill the progress bar to win

free with in-app purchases

Compare with Golly