"yo bro i like your cell machine game can i take inspiration"
"aight sure bro"
thats how this game was created.
As mentioned above, both games are Cellular Automatas featuring an edit mode (where you place cells on a grid) and a play/simulation mode. (where you watch the cells interact)
Cell Machine also certainly helped inspire the artstyle.
However, I actually first discovered Cell Machine after Mechination's rules had already been designed, so no inspiration there. The only inspiration behind the automata's design was Conway's Game of Life.