After that, everything goes a little downhill.

I was losing sleep over it.

And there’s one simple reason: the Creature Creator.

A screenshot of the Cell Stage in Spore, with several organisms of varying sizes swimming about a primordial pool.

It’s been 14 years (yes, it has.

), and still Spore’s Creature Creator feels like magic to me.

you could attach features like eyes, ears, mouths, limbs, horns, spines, and more.

Cover image for YouTube video

Give it a mouth and it’ll instantly start gnashing its teeth experimentally.

Give your creature a pair of arms, and it’ll immediately wobble them about.

The procedural animation at work in Spore is top-tier and utterly charming.