Cyclical Cellular Automata (CCA) are a cousin of Conway's Game of Life. They're both 2D cellular automata, mathematical games that exhibit emergent behavior based on the interaction of discrete elements governed by a set of rules.

Each pixel in petriDish is a cell and its color represents its state. The rules governing how each cell changes its state is based on the cell's current state and the state of neighbors surrounding it. For a cell to advance to its next state, a number of its neighbors be in the next state. The size of the neighborhood and the number of neighbors included in the count, as well as the minimum number of neighbors in the next state comprise the rules that produce all of petriDish's behaviors.

The size of the pixels, color palette, number and state of rules, and neighborhood characteristics are unique to each piece and fixed at the time of minting.

Not all states will cycle forever. Some will halt or need a little nudge. Others you can play like a game. Simply click and drag to randomize a small region of states around your cursor.

Acknowledgements: @algoritmarte1 for inspiration.