A developer has built a physical, interactive board for Conway's Game of Life, featuring a 17x17 matrix of tactile switches and Microchip's AVR128DA64 microcontroller. The project uses DMN2056U MOSFETs for row switching and DMG2301L p-channel transistors for column lines, ensuring safe operation at 150 mA per LED despite the MCU's limitations. The 17x17 grid size was chosen after budgeting, with switches costing around $3 each, making the project expensive but tactile.

The firmware includes safety features like a watchdog timer and decouples screen updates from game logic to prevent damage during redraws.