diff --git a/metadata.json b/metadata.json
index 52615a4..3faad7b 100644
--- a/metadata.json
+++ b/metadata.json
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
   "uid": "gameOfLife",
   "title": "Conway's Game of Life",
   "version": 1,
-  "author": "Ethan Padden and Marcos Cardinot",
-  "description": "This implements Conway's Game Of Life cellular automaton.",
-
+  "author": "Ethan Padden, Marcos Cardinot and Eleftheria Chatziargyriou",
+  "description": "This implements life-like cellular automata.",
   "supportedGraphs": ["squareGrid"],
+  "pluginAttributesScope": [ {"rules": "string"} ],
   "nodeAttributesScope": [ {"live": "bool"} ]
 }
diff --git a/plugin.cpp b/plugin.cpp
index 04a93f2..0ee810e 100644
--- a/plugin.cpp
+++ b/plugin.cpp
@@ -10,10 +10,78 @@
 
 namespace evoplex {
 
+QStringList GameOfLife::parseCmd(const QString &cmd)
+{
+    if (cmd.isEmpty())
+    {
+        qWarning() << "The command cannot be empty";
+        return QStringList();
+    }
+    
+    QStringList _cmds;
+    QString _cmd1, _cmd2;
+    
+    bool isInt1 = false;
+    bool isInt2 = false;
+    
+    if (cmd.indexOf("/") == -1)
+    {
+        qWarning() << "Commands must be of the form B{number of neighbors for cell birth} / S{number of neighbors for cell survival";
+        return QStringList();
+    }
+    
+    _cmds = cmd.split("/");
+    
+    if (!_cmds.at(0).startsWith("B") || !_cmds.at(1).startsWith("S"))
+    {
+        qWarning() << "Commands must be of the form B{number of neighbors for cell birth} / S{number of neighbors for cell survival";
+        return QStringList();
+    }
+
+    _cmd1 = _cmds.at(0);
+    _cmd1.remove(0, 1);
+    _cmd2 = _cmds.at(1);
+    _cmd2.remove(0, 1);
+    
+    int intRule1 = _cmd2.toInt(&isInt1);
+    int intRule2 = _cmd1.toInt(&isInt2);
+    
+    // check if rules are integers
+    if (!isInt1 || !isInt2)
+    {
+        qWarning() << "Unable to parse command. Make sure you give a valid integer.";
+        return QStringList();
+    }
+    // check if the rulestring has unique integers
+    if (QSet<QString>::fromList(_cmd1.split("")).count() != _cmd1.size() + 1 || QSet<QString>::fromList(_cmd2.split("")).count() != _cmd2.size() + 1)
+    {
+        qWarning() << "Integers can't appear more than once on each rule.";
+        return QStringList();
+    }
+    return QStringList() << _cmd1 << _cmd2;
+}
+
 bool GameOfLife::init()
 {
     // gets the id of the `live` node's attribute, which is the same for all nodes
     m_liveAttrId = node(0).attrs().indexOf("live");
+   
+    // parses the ruleset    
+    if (attrExists("rules")){
+        m_ruleset = attr("rules").toQString();
+    }
+    else{
+        qWarning() << "missing attributes.";
+        return false;
+    }
+    
+    m_rulesetLst = parseCmd(m_ruleset);
+    
+    if (m_rulesetLst.isEmpty())
+    {
+        return false;
+    }
+
     return m_liveAttrId >= 0;
 }
 
@@ -31,20 +99,15 @@ bool GameOfLife::algorithmStep()
         }
 
         if (node.attr(m_liveAttrId).toBool()) {
-            if (liveNeighbourCount < 2) { // Dies due to underpopulation
-                nextStates.emplace_back(false);
-            } else if (liveNeighbourCount < 4) { // Lives to next state
-                nextStates.emplace_back(true);
-            }  else { // Dies due to overpopulation
-                nextStates.emplace_back(false);
-            }
+            // If the node is alive, then it only survives if its number of neighbors is specified in the rulestring.
+            // Otherwise, it dies from under/overpopulation
+                nextStates.emplace_back(m_rulesetLst.at(1).contains(QString::number(liveNeighbourCount)));
         } else {
-            // Any dead node with exactly three live neighbors
-            // becomes a live node, as if by reproduction.
-            nextStates.emplace_back(liveNeighbourCount == 3);
+            // Any dead cell can become alive if its number of neighbors matches the one specified in the rulestring.
+            // Otherwise, it remains dead.
+            nextStates.emplace_back(m_rulesetLst.at(0).contains(QString::number(liveNeighbourCount)));
         }
     }
-
     // For each node, load the next state into the current state
     size_t i = 0;
     for (Node node : nodes()) {
diff --git a/plugin.h b/plugin.h
index a04bb04..17add8b 100644
--- a/plugin.h
+++ b/plugin.h
@@ -17,9 +17,12 @@ class GameOfLife: public AbstractModel
 public:
     bool init() override;
     bool algorithmStep() override;
+    QStringList parseCmd(const QString &cmd);
 
 private:
     int m_liveAttrId;  // the id of the 'live' node's attribute
+    QString m_ruleset; // the model's ruleset (B/S format)
+    QStringList m_rulesetLst;
 };
 } // evoplex
 #endif // GAME_OF_LIFEL_H