Spore
Spore is a real-time strategy video game developed by Maxis. The game was published by EA, and released for Microsoft Windows, and macOS X. Spore spawns many genres including real-time strategy, action, and RPG (Role-Playing Game).
Spore lets a player be able to control the development of specie from the very beginning, on a microscopic level. During its evolution, the specie begins to grab a hold of certain traits, such as intelligence, and social skills.
The game has caught the eye of plenty of gamers due to its unique life simulation features. Spore is a promising title with a huge scope for improvement. What’s more, is that the game offers complete open-ended gameplay and progression. Going through each stage, players are allowed to use a variety of creators that make content for their games. After creation, these are uploaded to Sporepedia, which is basically a library of unique games created by the users. Sporepedia is accessible to every player for download.
The core gameplay consists of 5 different stages in total. These are the Cell Stage, Creature Stage, Tribal Stage, Civilization Stage, and Space Stage, each one of these stages offer a different experience as every one of them has a different end goal. One the objective of a stage is cleared, it is up to the player to continue exploring the stage, or move on to the next one.
Many critics and users gave Spore a positive review as the game had tons of customization. A player was free to create customized creatures based on his liking. He was also able to completely customize his vehicles and buildings. Unfortunately, poor reviews were also given to the game as it had mediocre gameplay. Some gameplay elements of Spore were regarded as extremely simple and basic. A controversy also revolved around the game as it had a few computer securities risks.
Games That Are Just Like Spore:
Even though the game featured shallow gameplay, there are plenty of other reasons why many of us loved to play Spore. The unfortunate part is that Spore didn’t exactly feature a lot of gameplay elements for a player to be invested in the game for a long time. This is why in today’s article; we will be exploring other similar games that are just like Spore! All of the games, along with a brief introduction to each of them are mentioned right below:
- Kerbal Space Program
Kerbal Space Program is another simulation video game that features space flight. The game’s developed and published by Squad and released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
The game starts off with a play that is directed to a space program that is crewed and staffed by green humanoid aliens that are better known as “Kerbals”. These Kerbals have made a fully functioning spaceport that is called the Kerbal Space Center (KSC). In this game, players can make rockets, spaceplanes, rovers, aircraft, and plenty more crafts using a set of components that are given to the player. Kerbal Space Programs offers a unique orbital physics engine that allows a variety of real-life maneuvers, like Hohmann transfer orbits, and more.
Although the game was introduced through a public version in 2011, it was properly released in 2015, and later ported to other platforms. The best part about Kerbal Space Program is that it fully-features mods created by users. This inspires other players to create new mods that feature new mechanics in the game. Aside from its player base, even NASA and the European Space Agency have seemed to put an interest in this game.
- SpaceEngine
SpaceEngine is a video game created by a Russian astronomer and a programmer Vladimir Romanyuk. It is a 3D astronomy programmed planetarium that represents the whole universe. It is shown using a combination of real-life astronomical data, and scientifically-accurate algorithms.
Players are allowed to travel through space at any speed, and direction. They can also travel forwards and backward in time. Even now, SpaceEngine is in beta. It’s the most recent version, which is the 0.990, which is actually the first paid edition that is available for purchase on Steam.
It is a simulation game where the player will be given an incredibly useful HUD on his screen. The HUD will contain all the basic information. For instance, it will show the properties of objects, like temperature, radius, mass, spectrum, etc. Users are allowed to observe celestial objects that range from small asteroids to moons and even galaxy clusters.
Even for a simulation, the accurate information in the game is more than impressive. The default version of SpaceEngine has around 130,000 real objects, which includes various stars, galaxies from the NGC, and all known exoplanets and their stars.
- Flow
Flow is an independent game developed by Jenova Chen, Nicholas Clark. The game was originally released as a free Flash game for Chen’s master thesis during 2006. It was soon reworked as a video game for PlayStation 3 in 2007 by his development studio known as Thatgamecompany. You may have heard about the studio thanks to their more popular titles such as Journey, or Sky.
The gameplay of Flow consists of the player navigating a series of 2D planes using an aquatic microorganism. The microorganism evolves as it consumes other microorganisms. The game was initially designed to research more about dynamic difficulty adjustment.
Even the Flash-version of Flow was a hit as it received around 100,000 downloads only within the first two weeks. It was also revealed that the game was played over 3.5 million times by players in 2008. This was a huge achievement for a game that was only based on research.
After the game was re-released in PlayStation 3, it also became the most downloaded PlayStation Network game in 2007. Another achievement for the game was to receive the Best Downloadable Game Award during the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2008. Several critics and players regarded the game as a piece of art, rather than just a game.
- Eufloria
Euflora is based on a real-time strategy game that is developed by a British Studio, called Omni Studios Limited. The studio contains independent developers Alex May, Rudolf Kremers, and Brian Grainger.
The game was originally released for Microsoft Windows in 2009. But, soon after two years, the PlayStation Network port was made available in 2011, followed by iPad version in 2012. In the same year, the game was also ported in other platforms like Mac, Linux, and Android.
Eufloria is set in the far future consisting of a space environment. The player takes the role of a commander of interstellar lifeforms, known as Euflorians. The Euflorians live and take their resources on asteroids. The objective of the player is to use basic units grown on Dyson trees, called “seedlings” that are used to colonize and conquer asteroids.
If a Dyson tree is planted on an asteroid, it will grow stronger and produce more seedlings, featuring certain attributes. Other units are also introduced in the game on later stages, to make sure the game stays fresh. Players can battle with other empires and discover the origin of a mysterious creature. The main highlight of the game is its incredibly simple but addictive game featuring calming music, graphics, and gameplay.
- Endless Space
Endless Space is a 4 times turn-based strategy video game that is created and published by Amplitude Studios. The game was released on the 4th of July, 2012 for Microsoft Windows, followed by its release on macOS X a couple of months later.
In Endless Space, the player takes control of a fictional space age civilizations that expands their influence by colonization and conquest. The game sold over 1 million copies which showed its success. It also won the Unity Golden Cube Award. Endless Space 2 which is its direct sequel was released in 2017.
Every game, a maximum number of 8 players are allowed. Each player represents himself as the leader of any one of the nine interstellar empires. A player also has the option to create his own unique civilization by choosing a number of different stats.
All players begin with a single colonized capital system which is then connected to further systems through cosmic links. The cosmic links are used as a travel router for a starship. As players play the game, they will progress and unlock new features.
Conclusion
These were the 5 best alternatives to Spore. Every one of these games offers an experience similar to Spore. None of the games are ranked. This is why we suggest you to check every game before trying them out. Choose the one which suits your taste the best.
But if we were to choose a game for you, we’d suggest you start off with either Flow or Kerbal Space Program. Both offer a fantastic experience to the player and the gameplay resembles that of Spore.