In the beginning, there was a vast emptyness. The emtpyness was neatly divided into squares. In the emptyness Mr Conway placed a single cell.
The cell was dead. Mr Conway was sad.
He figured that the cell had died from lonelyness, so he placed two new cells on the grid next to each other.
The cells were dead.
Mr Conway again was sad. This time he placed three cells in a row.
Much to Mr Conway's surprise, the middle cell survived the night.
Mr Conway was satisfied, but he knew that a single cell would die on its own. He suspected that three cells could all survive, but maybe in a different pattern. He placed two additional cells on the grid, one to the left and one below the living cell.
Mr Conway was shocked to find not three, but four living cells when he woke up. The cells were arranged in a square.
Mr Conway was happy, but puzzled. Hoping that cells would continue to grow, he did nothing.
The square remained. Nothing had changed.
Conway wondered what would happen if he added another cell to this stable group. He placed a new cell benath the bottom left cell.
In the morning, Mr Conway found one fewer cell than there had been the day before. The remaining cells formed a square where the bottom left cell had jumped down one space.
Mr Conway sighed, finally understanding the rules of his own game. Knowing that on the next day the square would return, he rested.