Spore Creature Creator

On Apple Mac, also PC
Playing God
When Charles Darwin formulated the theory of evolution in The Origin of the Species, I doubt very much he ever imagined something as fantastical to come from his work as Spore. Allowing you to control the evolution of a species from its beginnings as a unicellular organism right through to an intergalactic civilisation, Spore essentially allows you to play God (or nature depending on your persuasion).
Spore however isn't out until September. This is Spore Creature Creator, which is the tool that allows you to design the creatures that will appear in your (and everyone elses) final game. And in that short sentence it's pretty much summed up.
However, what that sentence fails to mention is the depth at which it can work and, contrastingly, the ease at which it can be done. Anyone who's played around with some 3D design software will tell you it's no easy thing, yet here, Will Wright and his team of uber-geeks have made it simple enough for a child to master without sacrificing anything.
Allowing you to shape bodies as you please with the ease of a few clicks, and place eyes, ears, wings, mandibles… and all sorts of bizarre limbs, the only limit is your imagination. You can also choose skin type, pattern and colours, creating it exactly how you please.
Once it's looking out-of-this-world, you can start capturing videos of it in motion (and upload them directly to your YouTube account) then save it to the online Sporepedia where it'll join the other 1 million+ user created creatures.
Once Spore finally arrives you can use your creatures in the game, and along their journey to greatness, you'll encounter all manner of strange creatures, created by other people like you from around the world, plucked randomly from the Sporepedia.
The cherry on the cake is that the £5 the Creature Creator costs will de deducted from the price of the full game. So as well as being a hugely enjoyable, supremely addictive way for all ages to get their imagination working, it's an absolute bargain to boot.
Right, time to make a Flying Spaghetti Monster.
10/10