The agents presented here are not specifically designed for a particular problem. In simple terms, our agents generate (preserving the same internal neural organization) a wide variability and richness of behaviours (avoiding both disorder and explosive and indiscriminate propagation) that permits them to explore the space of parameters and eventually achieve solutions that they were not designed to find. The empirical evidence of experiments shown here supports this idea. A parallel could be established with the concept of play, which can be understood as a ‘rule-breaker’ activity of the constraints of a stable and self-equilibrating regime of behaviours which has no concrete goals35. A model as the one presented here could be used for exploring life-like autonomous behaviour without the need for explicit internal representations, goals, or rule-based behaviour. Conceptual models of critical activity based on the maintenance of a system’s relational invariants could help in the development of a synthetic route towards the exploration of adaptive and embodied criticality.