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> The rules in Conway's game of life are simpler than real world physics

This is tricky. Conway's rules are "simpler" but far more rigid (e.g. tractable/computable). In real life, we deal with not just plain ol' turbulence (Navier–Stokes three-dimensional existence is yet to be proved), but also quantum effects (some of which might also not be computable, such as entropy in a Hamiltonian system).

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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.

> ...more random constraints

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.

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