There's a strong case to be made that Maxis excels at making software toys rather than games. And there's a not so insignificant difference there, because a toy is something that you tinker with, whereas a game is something with a narrative, goals, or a way to win. That may be why Maxis titles have so much appeal. SimCity lets you indulge your inner mayor. Meanwhile, The Sims is the ultimate virtual dollhouse, letting you create your dream house and, by extension, your dream family. But now we come to Spore, the most ambitious Maxis product to date, and one that's as much as a game as it is a toy. Sure, you can tinker with Spore, but there's also a game here, one that involves the long struggle of life as it evolves and advances from a tiny cellular organism to intergalactic space travel. In fact, Spore is essentially five distinct games woven together. And here, Maxis demonstrates a weakness, as a number of these games come off as lightweight or limited. However, Spore is a prime example of something that is much more than the sum of its many parts.
I like to think of Spore as astrobiology in a box. Astrobiology is the field of science dedicated to thinking about what life on other planets might look like. To do that, it has to draw upon a wide range of scientific fields. Astronomy helps ascertain what sort of galactic conditions are needed to find a planet that will support life.
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