Science Guide

So I'm not ususally a video game kind of person, but the makers of Sims are releasing a new game on Sunday, the long-awaited Spore. This game is basically a large Evolution simulator, where one starts life as a microbe delivered to a virgin planet via panspermia. By eating and performing vital life processes, one earns DNA points and will eventually lay an egg. The next generation can be manipulated via a series of editors by spending DNA points on beneficial adaptations. One eventually moves up the food chain and out of the ocean, and soon forms tribes, cities, and takes over the planet. After this step is complete, one is free to investigate and settle other planets in the solar system, and later the entire galaxy of 10,000+ planets. As a zoology/botany major and fan of astrobiology, I was immediately attracted to a nature-based video game. This system seems a great vehicle for introducing the public to evolution, ecology, chemistry, physics, sociology, and a slew of other topics.