Gol.cs

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

public class Gol : MonoBehaviour {
	
	private float spacing = .5f;

	public GameObject Cell;
	
	private Dictionary<string, GameObject> _board = new Dictionary<string, GameObject>();

	// Use this for initialization
	void Start () {
		PopulateCells(new List<string>() {
			"0,0",
			"0,1",
			"0,3",
			"0,4",
			"1,0",
			"1,1",
			"1,4",
			"1,5",
			"1,6",
		});
	}
	
	// Update is called once per frame
	void Update () {
		if (Input.GetKeyDown("space")) {
			IterateBoard();
		}
	}

	void IterateBoard() {
		var processed = new List<string>();
		var toKill = new List<string>();
		var toPopulate = new List<string>();

		foreach (var cell in _board) {
			var activeNeighborCount = ActiveNeighborCount(cell.Key);
			if ( activeNeighborCount > 3 || activeNeighborCount < 2 ) {
				// kill cell
				toKill.Add(cell.Key);
			}
			
			foreach( var neighbor in GetNeighbors( cell.Key ) ) {
				// only look at empty space that has not already been looked at
				if ( !processed.Contains(neighbor) && !_board.ContainsKey(neighbor) ) {
					var activeNeighborCount_neighbors = ActiveNeighborCount(neighbor);

					if (activeNeighborCount_neighbors == 3) {
						toPopulate.Add(neighbor);
					}

					processed.Add(neighbor);
				}
			}
		}
		
		foreach( var loc_kill in toKill ) {
			Destroy(_board[loc_kill]);
			_board.Remove(loc_kill);
		}

		PopulateCells(toPopulate);
	}

	int ActiveNeighborCount(string location) {
		var neighbors = GetNeighbors(location);
		var active = 0;
		
		foreach( var neighbor in neighbors ) {
			if (_board.ContainsKey(neighbor)) {
				active++;
			}
		}
		
		return active;
	}

	List<string> GetNeighbors (string location) {
		var coords = GetCoordsFromString(location);
		
		return new List<string>() {
			ConvertCoordsToString(new List<int>() {	coords[0] - 1, coords[1] - 1 }),	
			ConvertCoordsToString(new List<int>() {	coords[0] - 1, coords[1] }),	
			ConvertCoordsToString(new List<int>() {	coords[0] - 1, coords[1] + 1 }),
			
			ConvertCoordsToString(new List<int>() {	coords[0], coords[1] - 1 }),
			ConvertCoordsToString(new List<int>() {	coords[0], coords[1] + 1 }),
			
			ConvertCoordsToString(new List<int>() {	coords[0] + 1, coords[1] - 1 }),
			ConvertCoordsToString(new List<int>() {	coords[0] + 1, coords[1] }),
			ConvertCoordsToString(new List<int>() {	coords[0] + 1, coords[1] + 1 }),
		};
	}
	
	void PopulateCells(List<string> locations) {
		foreach (var location in locations) {
			if (!_board.ContainsKey(location)) {
				var coords = GetCoordsFromString(location);
				_board[location] = Instantiate(
					Cell,
					new Vector3(
						coords[0] * spacing,
						.15f,
						coords[1] * spacing
					),
					Quaternion.identity
				);
			}
		}
	}

	List<int> GetCoordsFromString(string coords) {
		var parts = coords.Split(',');

		return new List<int>() {
			System.Convert.ToInt32(parts[0]),
			System.Convert.ToInt32(parts[1]),
		};
	}

	string ConvertCoordsToString(List<int> coords) {
		return coords[0].ToString() + "," + coords[1].ToString();
	}
}