Spore - PC Games

In a nutshell:
From the creator of The Sims comes the most ambitious video game ever made: don’t just control a single family or city – control an entire species from single cell organism to galactic conqueror.

The lowdown:
As impossibly complex as the game sounds the most impressive thing about Spore is just how accessible and fun it all is. The game is split into six evolutionary phases, starting with almost action style gameplay at the microscopic level. From there you move to the creature phase on dry land, before moving to tribal and the beginnings of society and technology. From there it’s onto the city phase, which plays a bit like SimCity, and from there to the Civilisation phase which plays something like, you guessed it… Civilization. The final phase takes part in outer space where by hook or by crock your species must reign triumphant.

Most exciting moment:
Each phase has its own editing tools associated with it, such as for vehicles and buildings. By far the most fun though is the creature tool which allows you to create your own fully animated lifeform from scratch using a huge range of limbs, facial features and colourings.

Since you ask:
The other planets in the galaxy aren’t all pre-populated by the game. By connecting online you can upload your races, and download those from other people, to fill the galaxy with civilizations from around the world.

The bottom line:
The Sims evolves into the most elaborate PC game ever imagined.
HARRISON DENT