Andrea Perschl

Ludus vitalis
Numerical simulation and recent observation by the James Webb telescope suggest an unexpected playground for Manfred Eigen's Ludus vitalis. The first solar systems formed after the dust expelled by supernovas of generation one stars had settled. The 2nd generation systems formed from this dust run under the acronym CEMPs (carbon-enriched metal-poor) and are hot candidates for the first with stony planets (although poor in silicon and iron).
Carbon occupies a Janus-faced position in the dance of the first elements. As for today, it is the fourth most abundant element in the universe by mass, after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen (Wiki). It can stand alone as a mineral in coal (up to 90% C)  and pure allotropes as graphite, diamond, graphene and others. Carbon atoms have a tendency to self-associate, forming the backbone for an extremely diverse plethora of organic compounds. They often build rings, sometimes incorporating heteroatoms as N, O, and S. Adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine at  the core of earthern genetics are such heterocycles.
Nuclear-physical necessities during the generation of increasingly heavier elements in the first stars decided on the mixture of elements forming the first planets and set the stage for the Ludus vitalis. I learned from the internet that nuclei of Beryllium (the fourth element) arising by conventional fusion processes lack stability and do not lend themselves for further progress towards heavier elements. One way around this bottleneck is the instantenous fusion of three 4He-nuclei to yield (perfectly stable) carbon.
The result of this Be-anomaly is (1) the low abundance of this element, and (2) low abundance of Li and B too, that are skipped in this 'triple-alpha process' (4He consisting of 2 protons and 2 neutrons is called 'alpha particle'). So, nature had to play around without boron (in retrospect no great loss, since most organic compounds with B lack chemical stability). Nucleosynthesis continues after carbon further with the addition of single 4He units, resulting (3) in higher abundance of even number elements as compared to odd number ones (Oddo-Harkins rule).
After C, also O, Mg, Si, and S take advantage from this deep stellar peculiarities. Third generation solar systems (as ours) formed with proto-planetary dust disks containing more Si than C (yielding Earth's Si-dominated outer crust). In the early universe, this ratio was reversed, yielding rather exotic landscapes based largely on carbon. Furthermore, the environment was probably dominated by carbon-based liquids instead of water. Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, displays lakes containing methane and ethane.
What a strange stage for a Ludus vitalis. Maybe it would be worth while to conduct experiments as those by Miller & Urey (1952) under the exotic conditions of a 'carbon world'. The scenery was illuminated by light with a prominant UV-content. Surfaces were layers of graphite presenting aromatic pi-electrons. The unsurmountable challenge of this type of experiments is the time scale: we cannot artificially turn it forward.
I would expect self-replicating processes under both conditions (hydrophilic and hydrophobic ones). Both conditions would address seperately the two levels (genes versus function). The details will most likely differ. Maybe under hydrophobic conditions, in close contact with surfaces presenting pi-electrons and under intense UV-influence, statistics would decide for more robust genetic building blocks.
Such carbon-world life might stay limited to surfaces and not proceed to multicellular forms. Or - on the contrary - the chemistry of our actual genes and functions was originally outplayed on exactly these strange anvils, organic solvent and active surfaces facilitating and accelerating the optimization. Short distance to neighboring solar systems and high frequency of catastrophic collisions may have done the rest: fast distribution to most carbon worlds at this time. Such a spread might have resulted in a common  fundamental chemistry of all life forms in the universe.                         /\
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M Eigen & R Winkler (1973//74) Ludus vitalis. Boehringer Mannheim, Mannheim