I'd say it's ultimately hard to argue if these more random constraints (compared to Conway's game of life) are more _helpful_ or _harmful_ towards the ability to produce life or life-like structures.
Want to point out that this is much more than simply "random" constraints (the universe isn't merely a probabilistic machine). These are not (or at least might not be) computable constraints; any comparison with Conway's Game of Life stops right there.
