I decided I wanted two things from the first tribe. Being a slavedriver, I wanted to get as long a working life as possible out of them so I wanted them young. Second, I wanted at least one runner.

I chose two 14-year-olds, a girl and a boy, a 15-year-old boy, and an 8-year-old girl. I clicked and clicked the reject button for what seemed like ages until finally a runner appeared. She was 30 but I accepted her anyway.

It was only later that I realised I'd not thought far enough ahead; I'd have to wait three Isola years for the oldest boy to reach 18 so he could become a father. Also, the only woman old enough to have the baby was my runner and I didn't really want to lose her from work for two years while she was nursing at such an important time. That meant that my fledgling tribe was very slow to start growing.

They've all grown up by a few years since then, though, and when I left them the three oldest females were nursing and the population had gone up to 10. The original 8-year-old was now 14 and an adept farmer. With two of the females set to parenting I hope I will return from work to find the tribe has grown some more.