Complex systems · Collective behavior
Creates interactive explorables about collective behavior and complex systems.
complexity-explorables.org8 selected projects, with credit and a path to the original.
Adjust a simple model of moving animals to explore how local alignment can produce flocking, swarming, and synchronized group motion.
Change a spatial predator–prey model to explore population oscillations and emerging patterns.
Adjust local interaction rules in a model of schooling fish and flocking birds.
Explore how a model school of fish can collectively seek a dark refuge.
Change random motion and signal strength to explore a model of cell aggregation through diffusing chemical signals.
Vary nutrients, medium resistance and microbial movement in a model of colony growth.
Adjust movement, reproduction and mutation in an abstract ecosystem of interacting species.
Change mutation and selection in a spatial model and follow the distribution of mutant fitness.
Original publication and update records, plus explicitly labeled repository milestones.
Horde of the Flies — a publication record dated in the linked source.
Horde of the Flies · Source Original source via Explainer ToolsCome Together — a publication record dated in the linked source.
Come Together · Source Original source via Explainer ToolsScott’s World — a publication record dated in the linked source.
Scott’s World · Source Original source via Explainer ToolsMaggots in the Wiggle Room — a publication record dated in the linked source.
Maggots in the Wiggle Room · Source Original source via Explainer ToolsA Patchwork Darwinge — a publication record dated in the linked source.
A Patchwork Darwinge · Source Original source via Explainer ToolsInto the Dark — a publication record dated in the linked source.
Into the Dark · Source Original source via Explainer ToolsLotka Martini — a publication record dated in the linked source.
Lotka Martini · Source Original source via Explainer ToolsFlock’n Roll — a publication record dated in the linked source.
Flock’n Roll · Source Original source via Explainer ToolsDirk Brockmann creates Complexity Explorables: interactive illustrations of models for complex systems across biology, ecology, physics, mathematics and related fields.
Each explorable focuses on a system and its underlying rules. The collection includes collective motion, microbial growth, ecological dynamics, synchronization and evolution, with model descriptions and research references on the source pages.
This selection connects 8 projects across writing. Follow the project links for the original experience; use the build log for dated context where evidence is available.
Compiled from public catalog attributions and linked original sources. Descriptions are editorial summaries, not statements made by the creator. This profile has not been claimed or endorsed.
Catalog sources gathered October 23, 2026. Primary-source access varies, particularly on social platforms. This is a selected portfolio, not a lifetime total. Images remain credited to their original creators.
Interactive stories, playful explanations, and little tools that make big ideas feel human.
Visual essays and a growing digital garden about programming, design, and anthropology.
Interactive explanations of maps, pathfinding, and the math behind game development at Red Blob Games.
