pMARS 0.9.5 is now available, with a new larger X Window display, a new colour Curses display, and fixes for several format / bounds / overflow issues.
What is Core War?
Core War is a programming game played between two or more programs written in Redcode, a low-level language similar to assembly. Players write programs to eliminate all opponents in the memory of the MARS virtual computer. Core War isn't just a game: it's also a unique platform for experimenting with genetic programming.
Core War News - 2026
Core War News - 2025
The Core War Tournament Weekend is over. Congratulations to inversed who claimed first and second place in the 94 tournament with Twin Storms and King Cobra.
Congratulations to inversed: Semiopacity and Janus claimed first and second place in the 88 tournament at the 2025 Core War Tournament Weekend.
The Core War Tournament Weekend will return to the Retro Computer Festival in Cambridge on 15–16 November, featuring an 88 tournament on Saturday and 94nop tournament on Sunday.
Congratulations to Inversed and Dave Hillis, who claimed first and second place in the Nano Core War Challenge with Reptiloid Supremacy, Reptiloid Conspiracy, and Smitten Atrocity.
The CROBOTS 40th Anniversary Tournament will be held in December. It will feature three sub-tournaments: Micro, Midi, and Macro. The deadline is 23:59 UTC on 30th November.
Inversed has announced a Nano Core War Challenge, with $100 first prize. Entries will be scored against the Nash equilibrium, and a new equilibrium calculated. Deadline 10am UTC on 15th June.
Core War News - 2024
Can you help to fill any gaps in the Core War archives? We're looking to add any missing tournament entries, warriors, articles, simulators, and related games. Thanks.
The Core War Tournament Weekend is over. Congratulations to Christian Schmidt and Simon Wainwright who take first and second in the 94 tournament with kudzu and holoshot.
Congratulations to inversed, Take the X Train and Supranatural Flame claimed first and second place in the 88 tournament at the The Core War Tournament Weekend.
The Core War Tournament Weekend will be held on 9–10 November at the Retro Computer Festival in Cambridge, UK, to celebrate 40 years of Core War.
STEAL THIS ARTICLE! Can you help promote Core War on your blog / website? If you'd like to help, please feel free to steal this article (screenshots, HTML, & Markdown provided). Thanks.
We are saddened to report A. K. Dewdney passed away following a brief illness. Kee inspired countless readers through his Computer Recreations columns in Scientific American.
Lamp of Murmur by Guillermo Calvo Arenaza claims first place in the Seventh CoreWarUCM Tournament, live at the Universidad Complutense Madrid.
Assembly is a new web-based programming game inspired by Core War and released as open source by Louve Hurlante. The code is available on GitHub.
Core War News - 2023
Google Groups are ending access to Usenet. Sign up to a free Usenet server (e.g. Eternal September or Solani) to use a newsreader (Pan or Thunderbird) to access rec.games.corewar.
Azathoth is the new king of the 94nop-Koenigstuhl, pairing a Sunset-style paper with a self-bombing stone.
A titan falls - Monster_Human_Grunt is a stone/imp which entered the 94nop hill in January 2006, surviving 2289 challenges before being pushed off today, making it the third oldest warrior of all time.
Tolypeutes is the new king of the 94nop-Koenigstuhl, combining an Armadillo-style stone with an Impfinity-launch and a new qscanner. Congrats to Roy van Rijn.
There's a new best counter graph for the top-50 of the Koenigstuhl 88, 94nop, pspace, 94x and ICWS hills. Each warrior is connected to the opponent which beats it with the highest score.
Terry Newton has released his latest evolver, YabEvolver, which uses a 2-dimensional soup. Warriors battle a neighbour with the loser being replaced by an evolved copy of the winner.
Core War News - 2022
Koenigstuhl is now home to seven Battle Royale (sequential push off) hills. Hullab3loo and Lithobolia C yvfp are the first to claim first place on the 94nop and 88 Battle Royale hills.
pMARS 0.9.4 is now available, with support for read/write limits, updated docs and bug fixes from Joonas Pihlaja, Terry Newton and Björn Günzel.
The Corewar Global Masters finals are over. Congratulations to Roy van Rijn and Inversed who take first and second place in the grand final - the tiny survival elimination round.
The Corewar Global Masters Tournament has been announced by Christian Schmidt, with three rounds and a grand final to be streamed live on Twitch. Deadline 6pm CET on 7th Feb 2022.
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