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[squeakyReaper]

As in, something to just plop down somewhere on your screen and watch it grow, either over minutes or over days. Imagine if you could just watch a city in Dwarf Fortress build itself, and the game will report simple stories and reports as to what is going on. That kind of stuff.

Does anyone know any? I need to do homework, but I'd like to be able to fulfill my need to "play" games at the same time.

Identical-ish thread here.

[Aoi]

I know I've seen a few RTS and 4X games allow for all AI players. Alternatively, you could watch/listen to a Lets Play instead. Back when I was in college, I also ran bots on a few MMOs and flipped the assets on black markets. Watching numbers get bigger while hoping you wouldn't get banned before a transaction went through was fun in its own way too. =P

[Anvilfolk]

Darwin Bots can be kind of like that. There are similar games and/or variants that I don't recall as well now. But basically you drop these little "bots" that have 1-4 limbs with 1-3 joints and they have genes that define their behaviour. They try to move to get to food, but most of them are just terrible at it. Those that ARE able to move eventually gather enough food to be able to mate, and have offspring. A few dozens of generations later you should have a uniform population of highly able bots

It's interesting, shows evolution in a small timespan, and overall it's interesting to see the different generations and uniformisation of genes.

I think there was something similar but in code. Code that would replicate and copy itself, etc, but I don't recall the name.

[Rex_Nex]

I'm interested in finding a game like this too. Particularly one that isnt "watch it evolve". Something a little more interesting to watch.

[Chattox]

Creatures. I cannot recommend these games enough. Works fantastically with no player input, your Norns will learn and teach themselves and each other, advancing through generations with survival of the fittest at the heart of the game. Also they're adorable.

[alway]

Stuff from this nearly identical thread from ages past:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=102752.0

[Lightning4]

As mentioned in that other thread, Paradox games are good for this too if you want to watch a world evolve.
Europa Universalis III is good if you pick some really isolated nation nobody really wants to attack. Mods further help with this, as some add nations like Hawaii, which won't be discovered until the 1700s, if ever.

Crusader Kings 2 has an 'observer' cheat that accomplishes this too.