Parents' Guide to Spore

For a game that's seven years in the making and more than a year past its planned launch, a lot is riding on SPORE, the latest simulation from celebrated game designer Will Wright. Spore might best be described as an evolution simulation. Your goal is to create a unique species from scratch, and, through careful nurturing, interaction with other life forms, and the development of new technologies, you'll advance through the five main stages, each of which plays out almost as a separate game altogether.

In the Cell Stage, for example, you control a teeny microorganism by navigating through a primordial pond and consuming other cells in a primal survival of the fittest. You'll eventually grow larger, sprout legs and lungs, and venture out onto dry land for the Creature Stage. Now you must explore your environment, hunt for food (you choose whether your creature is a carnivore or herbivore), collect new body parts and other items (used to design a faster or stronger being) and mate with other critters (don't worry, no "act" is seen, other than two beings swooning underneath floating pink hearts). This stage might prove difficult for newbies because even though you follow the onscreen instructions carefully when greeting new species, you can fail to impress other tribes by dancing or singing. Without these alliances, it can take you a while to reach the next stage by hunting alone. The next stages -- Tribal, Civilization, and Space -- are reminiscent of real-time strategy games, where you're collect resources, explore different cultures, and use diplomacy or war to reach your goals.