Everything is uniquely defined by the initial pattern. uniquely? GoL isn't reversible (unlike Critters or ...(1d cellular automata that defeats the original point of socolar-taylor tiling by having all 2^3 rather than just the six from rotations) where information can't be destroyed, in which case boards containing intelligent agents won't become more common than otherwise)
I incidentally thought about this long before I got sold on this site. just wanted to mention that came to mind: evoloop (IIRC minimum size loops couldn't be beat, but when I checked wikipedia again nvm there might be more to it. anyway, suppose a less strategic game where there's no conservation of resources and the best option is just to try to expand, then the meta devolves into spamming) and oskar's belgian maze, where trying to probe for information could get you into deeper mess
oops, u meant deterministically. sry for glancing that sentence without context