Playing God
Will Wright’s hugely successful game The Sims let players shape the lives of virtual humans; his new game, Spore, lets them control the universe. Spore has five levels, following a species’ evolution from single-celled organisms to technologically advanced space explorers, but players can begin at any level. In the game’s editor mode, players design their own creatures. The creatures’ movements and behaviors are then determined by algorithms that analyze the structure of their bodies. At the lower levels, players help their creatures feed and hunt; at the higher levels, they control the creatures’ social organization and their built environment. Spore comes out September 7.



Courtesy of EA
Product: Spore
Cost: Less than $50
Source: www.spore.com
Company: Electronic Arts
Other products in this section:
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build
“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”
Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives
The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.
Learning to code isn’t enough
Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.
Deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton has quit Google
Hinton will be speaking at EmTech Digital on Wednesday.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.