Evolution Worms

All life follows simple rules. Consume, survive, replicate. Among all the complexity and kerfuffle, nothing else is actually going on. Evolution worms is a simple illustration of how life operates, from microscopic microbes through to global geopolitics. The main difference, you can watch this game end.

How It Works

Each worm has a randomized fitness and a finite lifespan. It moves around its world eating, which increases its capacity to compete with rival worms. Periodically, the population of food sources will increase, mimicking seasonality and reproductive cycles. When two worms from different groups meet, one gets eaten. If a worm consumes enough food, it will generate additional self-units, sometimes through reproduction (if it successfully mates with a worm of its own kind), and the new units will begin with a full lifespan. However, reproduction comes at a cost, reducing the strength of the reproducer and leaving them more vulnerable.

If all competing worm groups are eradicated, but multiple worms of the same colour remain, they will then split into divergent competing groups, as usually happens with living organisms, but also in human politics, national identity, and religions factions (also mimicking genetic mutation between multiple generations which creates quite distinct genetic groups which are so significantly different from their ancestors after several generations, that the idea of genetic lineage becomes inconsequential). The winner is the last worm standing who has achieved complete dominance of its world; an utterly pointless goal.

Created by Peter Jorgensen