Tag Systems

Tag systems can generate chaos and complexity, using only remarkably simple rules.

Like cellular automata, the rules behind these systems are very easy to understand, although the dynamics produced can be immensely complex.

This app allows you to explore the dynamics of the 216 simplistic tag systems, starting from many different initial conditions. Many aspects of these systems are still unknown, and this app gives you the opportunity to discover them.

In tag systems a row of blocks evolves over time, because blocks are removed from the left and added to the right. The colors of the blocks added on the right depend upon the the colors of the blocks on the left.