Playing the pre-tribal 'creature' phase of Spore, I found a narrative being generated by itself in my head. The narrative was so compelling that I resisted moving on to the tribal stage, and instead set myself a task; to make friends of every creature on my homeworld of Taelis while still in prehistoric times. I eventually found that the constant explosion of new species made this an impossible goal, but during the time I pursued it, I came to know my party of prehistoric 'Quest For Fire' cave-creatures as people, as characters. I found myself imagining their dialogue (in grunts and whistles) and feeling their relationships to each other.

I realized that once the tribal stage was reached, the time of the individual would end. Prehistory is the time of heroes, because it is only here that the individual can make all the difference, where every hand matters, where four friends can change the world.