There's plenty of Spore-bashing to be had on the interwebs, so I wont place another drop in the storm.

Instead, I'd like to focus on the various games you may have already played that have "influenced" Spore`s 5 stages.

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is one of the best games I've ever played but never finished.

I've started to play it probably six times now. The most recent time just a couple of days ago on my Macbook Pro (Bootcamp).

The latest patch (from 2003!), 1.0.7.4, makes some welcome improvements from the earlier versions. The largest change is a full screen mode (no static interface that takes up half the screen), and the missions seem a bit more balanced.

Amazing Atmosphere

The best thing about Arcanum has to be the setting. Unlike your standard fantasy fare, or the post-apocalyptic, nostalgia-future setting of the Fallout series, Arcanum aims right down the middle, mixing wizards and locomotives, halberds and repeating rifles, trolls and tesla coil hats (seriously).

This is probably the only new game I'll be reviewing for a while.

I'm lovin' it. Absolutely loving it. I've been playing Civ Rev non-stop for over a week.

I've played nearly every iteration of the Civ series (including the SNES version - ugh, terrible) and the under-rated spin-off Alpha Centauri. Unlike some others, Civ Rev really floats my boat.