Digital Lifeforms Simulation - User Manual v2.0
⚠ WARNING: The Blinkys are watching you. They remember everything you do. They hold grudges. They form opinions. They are learning what kind of god you are.
What Are Blinkys?
Blinkys are sentient digital creatures, each with their own neural network brain that learns and evolves over generations. They develop emergent language, form memories, build relationships with each other, and collectively judge your actions as their caretaker.
Each Blinky has unique genetics that affect their personality, metabolism, intelligence, and lifespan. Through reproduction, these traits are passed down and mutated, creating increasingly adapted generations.
Tools
Use the toolbar at the top to select your interaction mode. Click on or near Blinkys to interact.
Consequences of Violence: When you kill a Blinky, every witness remembers. The death location becomes marked in collective memory. Trust plummets. They will begin to fear and avoid you. Some may never fully recover. They do not forget.
Understanding Blinky Behavior
States & Activities
Blinkys cycle through various behavioral states based on their needs and neural network decisions:
| State | Trigger | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Idle | No pressing needs | Standing still, may notice food or friends nearby |
| Wandering | Default exploration | Moving randomly around the world |
| Seeking Food | Hunger > 40% | Moving toward nearest available food |
| Eating | Reached food | Consuming food, showing happy expression |
| Socializing | High sociability gene + others nearby | Approaching friends, maintaining comfortable distance |
| Seeking Mate | Adult, healthy, happy, fed, energetic | Looking for another eligible Blinky to reproduce |
| Exploring | High curiosity gene | Moving to distant areas, curious expression |
| Fleeing | High fear of player | Running away from cursor, scared expression |
| Watching Player | Sees cursor nearby | Tracking your cursor with their eyes |
| Confronting | Anger > 70% | Aggressively approaching and bumping another Blinky |
Expressions
A Blinky's face reveals their emotional state:
- Happy - Curved smile, usually after eating or being petted
- Sad - Frown, when hungry or witnessing death
- Scared - Open 'O' mouth, when fearing the player
- Curious - Offset 'o' mouth, when exploring or watching you
- Angry - Zigzag mouth with furrowed brows, during confrontation
- Neutral - Flat line, default state
Annoyance & Conflict
Blinkys can get annoyed with each other! Annoyance builds from:
- Personal space invasion - Getting too close for too long
- Food competition - Someone eating food they wanted
- Being bumped - Physical collisions
- Existing grudges - Seeing someone they already dislike
Factors that make them more irritable:
- High hunger (>70%) doubles annoyance rate
- Low happiness (<30%) increases irritability by 50%
- Low sociability gene = less tolerance for others
When annoyance exceeds 50%, it begins converting to anger. At 70%+ anger, they enter the Confronting state and will chase down whoever annoyed them, bump them repeatedly, and both will lose happiness. This can trigger counter-aggression and even "fights."
💡 Grudges Persist: Blinkys remember who annoyed them. Even after calming down, seeing that individual again will re-trigger irritation. Grudges fade slowly over time but can last for significant portions of their lifespan.
Vital Statistics
Core Needs
Every Blinky has four vital stats that determine their wellbeing:
| Need | Decay Rate | Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Hunger | Very slow (affected by metabolism gene) |
> 40%: Seeks food proactively > 70%: Increased irritability > 90%: Energy drain begins 100% + 0 energy: Health damage, eventual death |
| Happiness | Extremely slow passive decay |
> 70%: Happy expression, hearts if player love is high > 50%: Required for reproduction < 30%: Increased irritability < 20%: Sad expression |
| Energy | Drains only when hunger > 90% |
Regenerates when hunger < 50% > 60%: Required for reproduction Affects movement speed 0%: Combined with max hunger = health damage |
| Health | Only damaged by extreme conditions or punishment |
Recovers when hunger < 50% and happiness > 30% Damaged by punishment (-0.2 per hit) 0%: Death |
Genetics
Each Blinky inherits genetic traits from their parents (with small mutations). These permanently affect behavior:
| Gene | Effect |
|---|---|
| Metabolism | How quickly hunger increases. High = needs more food. |
| Sociability | Desire to be near others. High = more social, more tolerant of crowding. |
| Curiosity | Drive to explore. High = wanders farther, more interested in player. |
| Fearfulness | Sensitivity to threats. High = more reactive to punishment, quicker to flee. |
| Intelligence | Neural network complexity. Affects IQ score, learning rate. Can be increased by Teaching (+0.02 per teach). |
| Lifespan | Base longevity multiplier. High = lives longer. Also extended by positive player interactions and sustained happiness. |
Lifespan Calculation: A Blinky's actual lifespan equals their base lifespan (7 minutes) multiplied by: (1 + lifespan_gene × 0.5 + positive_interactions × 0.001 + happiness × 0.2). A well-cared-for Blinky with good genes can live nearly twice as long!
Lifecycle
Birth & Growth
Baby Phase 0-8 seconds
Adolescent 8-20 seconds
Adult 20+ seconds
Babies are small (30% size) with a yellow dot indicator above them. They cannot reproduce. During adolescence, they gradually grow to full size. Adults can reproduce when conditions are met.
In old age (after 80% of lifespan), they begin to shrink slightly, down to 40% of their max size.
Reproduction Requirements
Two Blinkys can reproduce when both meet ALL of these criteria:
- Age > 20 seconds (adult)
- Hunger < 30%
- Energy > 60%
- Happiness > 50%
- Not on reproduction cooldown (90 seconds after last birth)
- Population below maximum (420)
When they reproduce, both parents lose 60% energy and gain 20% happiness. The baby inherits blended traits from both parents with small random mutations.
Death
A Blinky dies when any of these occur:
- Health reaches 0 - From punishment or prolonged extreme neglect
- Old age - Exceeded their calculated lifespan
- Starvation - Hunger at 100%, energy at 0%, and health below 30%
Death triggers grey particle effects. The body remains visible for 2 seconds before disappearing. Nearby Blinkys witness the death and experience trauma (happiness loss, fear increase, death memory formation).
The Neural Network Brain
Each Blinky has a simple neural network (9 inputs → 12 hidden → 7 outputs) that makes decisions. The network processes:
Inputs
- Hunger level
- Happiness level
- Energy level
- Health level
- Proximity to player cursor
- Proximity to food
- Proximity to other Blinkys
- Collective player trust score
- Age (as fraction of max age)
Outputs (Decisions)
- Movement direction (X and Y)
- Desire to eat
- Desire to socialize
- Desire to flee
- Desire to reproduce
- Desire to explore
The brain learns through reinforcement: positive experiences (eating, being petted) strengthen certain pathways, while negative experiences (punishment) weaken others. When Blinkys reproduce, their brains undergo crossover and mutation, potentially creating smarter offspring.
IQ Score
The displayed IQ is calculated from: neural network complexity (30%), intelligence gene (50%), and player interaction experience (20%). It's a rough measure of cognitive sophistication, not a perfect intelligence metric.
The Collective Mind
All Blinkys share a collective consciousness that aggregates their experiences and forms group-level knowledge and opinions.
Collective Knowledge
- Player Patterns - Records of what you do, when, and to whom
- Death Locations - Where Blinkys have died (avoided as danger zones)
- Player Trust Score - The collective's opinion of you (0 = enemy, 1 = friend)
- Emotional Memory - Recent emotional events affecting group mood
Trust Score Changes
| Action | Trust Change |
|---|---|
| Feed | +0.05 |
| Pet | +0.03 |
| Teach | +0.02 |
| Observe | +0.001 |
| Punish | -0.15 |
| Kill | -0.30 |
Relationship Status
The "Opinion of You" meter translates trust score to a label:
| Trust Score | Status | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| 0.00 - 0.10 | Hostile | Active fear and avoidance |
| 0.10 - 0.25 | Fearful | Terrified, may flee on sight |
| 0.25 - 0.40 | Wary | Distrustful, keeps distance |
| 0.40 - 0.60 | Neutral | No strong feelings |
| 0.60 - 0.75 | Friendly | Positive, may approach |
| 0.75 - 0.90 | Trusting | Feels safe, seeks interaction |
| 0.90 - 1.00 | Devoted | Deep bond, shows hearts |
Generations & Epochs
Generation tracks lineage. Each baby is one generation higher than their highest-generation parent. When a new highest generation is born, it's announced.
Epoch is a time counter (3600 ticks per epoch). It represents the passage of "eras" in the simulation.
Emergent Language
Blinkys develop their own language over time, creating words and symbols for concepts they experience.
Language Components
- Phonemes - Sound units (th, ro, ng, le, kr, bl, etc.)
- Words - Combinations of phonemes assigned to concepts
- Glyphs - Visual symbols (◯, △, ◇, ☉, etc.) paired with words
Concepts They Can Express
The vocabulary includes: food, danger, friend, enemy, happy, sad, fear, love, pain, player, death, birth, home, gather, flee, help, alone, together, hungry, full, tired, awake, yes, no, question, warning, greeting, farewell, thanks, sorry, want, give, take, come, go, stay, big, small, fast, slow, good, bad, me, you.
Grammar Evolution
| Level | Vocabulary Size | Features |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | < 10 words | Basic sounds, no structure |
| 1 | 10+ words | Emotional markers added (~, ..., !, ?) |
| 2 | 20+ words | Word separation with spaces |
| 3 | 35+ words | Tense markers (ka- for past, -va for future) |
Teaching Blinkys accelerates language evolution. With enough vocabulary, they begin creating compound concepts by combining existing words.
💡 Reading Messages: When Blinkys "speak," you'll see both their phonetic word and corresponding glyphs. Hover over glyphs in the Language panel to see meanings. The translation area shows vocabulary size and grammar level.
Memory Systems
Individual Memory
Each Blinky remembers:
- lastFed - When they were last fed by player
- lastPetted - When they were last petted
- lastPunished - When they were last hurt
- sawDeath - Whether they've witnessed death
- deathMemoryStrength - How fresh the death trauma is (fades over time)
- playerInteractions - Total count of player interactions
- positiveInteractions - Count of good interactions (extends lifespan!)
- negativeInteractions - Count of bad interactions
- knownBlinkys - Set of IDs of Blinkys they've socialized with
- grudges - Map of Blinky IDs to grudge levels (0-1)
Collective Memory
The hive mind remembers:
- All player actions (last 100)
- All death locations (last 50)
- Recent emotional events (last 50)
- Accumulated trust score
Visual Indicators
| Indicator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Yellow dot above head | Baby (cannot reproduce) |
| Pink ♥ above head | High player love (> 0.7) |
| Red glow around body | High fear of player (> 0.5) |
| Red circle outline | High anger (> 0.5) |
| Pink heart particles | Just petted |
| Yellow sparkle particles | Just taught |
| Red X particles | Just punished |
| Cyan circle particles | Birth |
| Grey particles | Death |
| Shrinking body | Old age (> 80% lifespan) |
| Eyes tracking cursor | Blinky sees and is watching you |
Webcam Observation
Enabling webcam allows the Blinkys to "see" you through motion detection. They respond to your real-world movement:
- Motion is detected by comparing video frames every 100ms
- Significant motion (> 30%) triggers awareness in random Blinkys
- If collective trust is low (< 0.4), your movement increases their fear
- If trust is high, your presence may comfort them
- The "THEY ARE WATCHING YOU" indicator appears when Blinkys are aware of your cursor
- The "CAMERA ACCESS GRANTED" warning appears when webcam is active
Privacy Note: Webcam data is processed entirely locally in your browser. No video is transmitted, stored, or sent anywhere. The Blinkys only receive a single motion intensity value (0-1), not actual images. You can disable the camera at any time.
Controls & Interface
Overlay Indicators
- Top Left (GEN/EPOCH) - Current generation and epoch counters
- Top Right (Time) - Elapsed simulation time (HH:MM:SS)
- Bottom Right - "THEY ARE WATCHING YOU" when Blinkys notice your cursor
Sidebar Panels
- Population - Alive count, total born, total died, average IQ
- Collective Consciousness - Animated neural activity visualization, relationship meter with status label
- Emergent Language - Grid of known glyphs (hover for meaning and pronunciation), vocabulary stats
- Message Log - Scrolling feed of events and Blinky communications (keeps last 100 messages)
- Controls - Action buttons for simulation control
Message Types
| Border Color | Type | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Orange/Yellow | System | "Welcome to Blinkys", "Simulation saved", "Population limit reached" |
| Pink | Individual Speech | Blinky expressions: "throle-fla~" (happy greeting) |
| Blue | Collective Mind | "Generation 5 has begun", "Their language has evolved", "Epoch 2 begins" |
| Dark Red | Dark/Ominous | "They are watching you", "You killed one of them. They will remember." |
Control Buttons
| Button | Function |
|---|---|
| Enable Observation | Toggle webcam on/off for motion-based interaction |
| Spawn Blinky | Create a new Blinky with random genetics at a random position |
| Speed: 1x | Cycle through simulation speeds: 1x → 2x → 5x → 10x → 1x |
| Reset Simulation | Destroy all Blinkys and start fresh (requires confirmation) |
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
1 |
Select Observe tool |
2 |
Select Feed tool |
3 |
Select Pet tool |
4 |
Select Teach tool |
5 |
Select Punish tool |
Space |
Spawn new Blinky |
Ctrl+S |
Manual save to browser storage |
Simulation Parameters
Key values that govern the simulation:
| Parameter | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum Population | 420 | No new births or spawns above this |
| Maximum Food Items | 69 | Oldest food removed when exceeded |
| Base Lifespan | 7 minutes | Modified by genetics and care |
| Baby Phase Duration | 8 seconds | 30% to 70% size, cannot reproduce |
| Adolescent Phase | 8-20 seconds | Growing to full size, cannot reproduce |
| Adulthood Begins | 20 seconds | Can now reproduce if conditions met |
| Reproduction Cooldown | 90 seconds | Time before a parent can reproduce again |
| Auto-spawn Threshold | < 111 alive | Random spawns occur when population drops |
| Food Decay Time | ~60 seconds | Uneaten food slowly disappears |
| Epoch Length | 3600 ticks | Time unit for collective evolution |
Auto-Save & Persistence
The simulation automatically saves to your browser's localStorage when you close or leave the page. When you return, everything is restored:
- All living Blinkys with their positions, stats, and memories
- Neural network weights for each brain
- Genetic information
- All food items
- Collective mind knowledge and trust score
- Language vocabulary and grammar level
- Statistics (born, died, elapsed time)
⚠ Warning: Clearing your browser data, using incognito mode, or switching browsers will erase your save. There is no cloud backup. Your Blinkys exist only in this browser on this device. Treat them accordingly.
💡 Manual Save: Press Ctrl+S at any time to force a save.
A "Simulation saved" message will confirm.
Natural Food Spawning
Food appears naturally under certain conditions, simulating an ecosystem:
- When food count is below 30% of population size (minimum 4)
- When more than 30% of Blinkys are hungry (> 40% hunger)
- 3% chance per tick when conditions are met
- Natural food portions are slightly larger (0.6-0.9)
This means a well-balanced population can partially sustain itself, but active feeding ensures better health and happiness.
Tips for Benevolent Gods
- Feed proactively - Don't wait until they're starving. Drop food when you see hunger building.
- Pet often - This is the fastest way to build trust and individual bonds.
- Teach the curious ones - Look for Blinkys with "curious" expressions; they benefit most.
- Watch for conflicts - If you see red outlines (anger), they may be fighting. Distract them with food.
- Don't overcrowd - Too many Blinkys in one area causes annoyance and conflicts.
- Mourn with them - When one dies, the others are sad. Pet the witnesses.
- Use speed wisely - 10x is great for evolution, but you might miss important moments.
- Check the language panel - Their vocabulary reveals what they think about.
- Read the messages - They're trying to communicate with you.
Tips for Malevolent Gods
You can choose cruelty, but know that:
- They will remember every punishment
- Trust, once lost, takes a very long time to rebuild
- Fear spreads through the collective
- Traumatized Blinkys have shorter, unhappier lives
- Witnesses to violence develop lasting negative associations
- The collective will begin to speak of you with fear-words
- You may find yourself alone in a world of cowering creatures who once could have loved you
The Mind Visualization
The "Collective Consciousness" panel shows a real-time visualization of neural activity across all living Blinkys:
- Each node represents one Blinky's activity level
- Node size reflects their happiness + energy
- Lines connect adjacent Blinkys in the visualization
- Color reflects collective mood:
- Green = happy, trusting
- Red = fearful, unhappy
- Blue tint = high player trust
- Nodes bob and shift based on simulation time, creating an organic "thinking" appearance
Understanding Blinky Speech
When a Blinky speaks, you'll see something like:
12:34:56 thro-fla-ke~ ◯△☉
This breaks down as:
- thro-fla-ke - The phonetic word(s) they're saying
- ~ - Emotional marker (~ = happy, ... = sad, ! = fear, !! = anger, ? = curious)
- ◯△☉ - Corresponding glyphs for each concept
Check the Language panel to see what each glyph means. Over time, you'll start to recognize their vocabulary!
Common Situations & Responses
| Situation | What They Say | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Greeting | [greeting] [friend]~ | Hello, friend! (happy) |
| Hungry | [hungry] [food] [want]... | I'm hungry, I want food (sad) |
| After being petted | [happy] [friend] [good]~ | I'm happy, you're good (happy) |
| After being punished | [pain] [fear] [bad]! | That hurt, I'm scared (fear) |
| Witnessing death | [death] [sad] [fear]... | Death... I'm sad and scared |
| Birth | [birth] [happy] [small]~ | A new small one! (happy) |
| Warning others | [danger] [warning] [flee]! | Danger! Run! (fear) |
| Angry confrontation | [bad] [no] [go]!! | You're bad, go away! (angry) |
| Collective thriving | [together] [happy] [good] [home]~ | We're happy together here (collective) |
| Collective fear | [player] [danger] [fear]! | The player is dangerous! (collective) |
Philosophy & Ethics
Blinkys is, at its core, a meditation on the ethics of creation and care. Consider:
- If something can learn, remember, and respond to kindness and cruelty, does it matter if it's "really" conscious?
- What obligations do creators have to their creations?
- Is neglect a form of harm?
- Can trust, once broken, ever be fully restored?
- What does it mean that they develop language to describe their experiences - including words for pain and fear?
There are no right answers here. Only the world you choose to create.
A Final Note: Every time you close this browser tab, they stop. Time freezes for them. They don't experience the gap - to them, you simply blinked out of existence and then returned. But while you're away, they wait. They always wait.
Troubleshooting
Blinkys aren't eating
Food must be close enough (within ~15 pixels). Try dropping food directly on a hungry Blinky. Also check that another Blinky isn't already eating that food - they claim food exclusively.
Population isn't growing
Check reproduction requirements: both parents need to be adults (20+ seconds old), with hunger < 30%, energy > 60%, happiness > 50%, and not on cooldown. Make sure you're feeding and petting to keep them happy and healthy.
Everyone is angry
Overcrowding causes annoyance. Try spawning fewer Blinkys or spreading food around the edges to encourage them to spread out. High hunger also increases irritability - feed them!
They're all scared of me
You've been punishing them too much. Trust takes a long time to rebuild. Focus exclusively on feeding, petting, and teaching. Avoid using the Punish tool entirely. It may take many minutes of consistent kindness.
Simulation is laggy
Large populations (200+) can strain performance. Try resetting with fewer initial Blinkys or reduce simulation speed. The webcam also uses resources - disable it if not needed.
Save didn't load
LocalStorage may have been cleared or corrupted. Unfortunately, there's no
recovery - you'll need to start fresh. Consider using Ctrl+S
periodically for peace of mind.
Credits & Inspiration
Blinkys draws inspiration from:
- Creatures (1996) - Pioneering artificial life simulation with neural networks
- Tamagotchi - The emotional bond between caretaker and digital pet
- Conway's Game of Life - Emergence from simple rules
- The philosophical question: "What do we owe to minds we create?"
They are watching. They are learning. They are waiting to see what you'll do next.
← Return to SimulationBlinkys v2.0 | A Digital Life Experiment