In Maxis’ 2008 sandbox/survival PC game Spore, players create a species using mostly rudimentary amorphous blobs and extremities to survive and ultimately thrive. One of the first major decisions players must take to do either of these however is to choose between being an Herbivore (The sort of pacifist route) allowing the player to eat the green vegetation; or a Carnivore (Traditionally thought of as the “evil” or aggressive route) which consumes flesh either scavenged off of other cells or hunted; and eventually down the line in the cell stage there is the the third “neutral” Omnivore option which will allow the cell to eat either of the aforementioned food options.
Goob Species, by Maxis, is an herbivore based on its filter mouth.
All of the food preferences are determined by the mouth type the player chooses, and each path has its own perks down the line. Therefore, being only an herbivore has implications that extend beyond just the cell or primitive stages of gameplay. As the game progresses, it becomes obvious that regardless of the mouth type the player chooses, a method of increasing survivability is necessary to avoid death and further advance the player’s species. Most of the ways that tools that can be used to improve survivability can be found either by breaking open small chunks of meteorite containing a new part or by obtaining a part from the carcass of another species that had one of those parts. These parts can either be defensive, like the Cilia or Jets used for increasing maneuverability and speed, respectively, or offensive, like the Poison bulb or Spikes, which damage other species who try to approach the player character.
To place these parts onto the bodies of the species players have to find a mate and use the species evolution menu which on top of being where player’s customize their species also shows a sort of Karma chart which three different sections A green section for exercising pacifism, a blue section for neutrality (killing only those who try to kill you), and a red section for aggression awarded for killing everything in the player’s path.
Picture of the aforementioned “karma menu” from Reddit user n0ahf in his endeavor to accurately depict the evolution of humans
With each major evolution in Spore (signified by the player character’s brain becoming too large for the bounds of its thought bubble), a new phase of the game begins. In order the game’s phases are: Cell, Creature, Tribal, Civilization, and Space with each stage having completely different gameplay styles from one another’ Cell is a top down asteroids-like where the only goal is to eat, Creature is a third person exploration and combat simulator where the player either befriends or exterminates other species, Tribal and Civilization are similar in that they are both similar to Real Time Strategy games where the player needs to either go to war with other tribes or build trading agreements with them until the player take over the world, and in the final space stage the player flies around in a UFO trading with and conquering other planets until the player character reaches the center of the universe.
Image of the Galactic Core in Spore
Now that the roadmap of the game and what decisions can be made to either be as positive or negative an influence as possible have been laid out, the obvious question would be, “MicahVevo, what makes the Pacifist or Neutral Routes evil? The Player is not actively hurting anyone, so what gives?” And to that I say… Capitalism. While in the first two stages of the game, the goal is simply survival and to help the created species to traverse the continent and find a permanent home, as soon as the tribal stage starts, the tone of the game suddenly changes. The Player is no longer trying to avoid or be passive with the other aggressive species that occupy the same land as their species, the game becomes a war and diplomacy simulator where the player must interact with the other tribes, civilizations, and planets and to support an ever growing populace of their species the player becomes a tool of brainwashing and destruction even on a pacifist playthrough.
Once the civilization stage begins, the player is forced into one of three playstyles to dominate the planet’s resources and species for the sake of progression into space: Religious (“pacifist” not really), Economic (“Neutral” not really again), and Military (Evil, yeah). While on the surface level, these concepts may seem like very different methods of conquering the world, in reality, it is the most expertly crafted way to make these ideas seem unique when they are entirely intertwined, and this can even be seen through the lens of gameplay. In all three routes, the player needs some sort of defensive military, no matter what, to defend from aggressive military nations, which can only be supported by having a strong economy to build tanks and planes to act as defense (or offense in a military playthrough), which means building a web of trade or simply pillaging for money through warfare. “So what about the Religious? How do they succeed?” In the religious route, the player’s goal is to literally brainwash the other civilizations into giving the player’s civilization money to strengthen their cause to go to space. To show how literal the brainwashing is, one of the abilities that religious route players get is to create a massive, mountain-sized hologram of the species god onto other civilizations to make them have faith.
Screenshot of God Hologram
Spore is a perfect example of the adage that “all art is political” which has become much more popular online as of late, because even if it was not the intention of the creators of Spore to create such a political game the politics of the world still shine through incredibly brightly to the point that only someone ignorant to the workings of the world or someone who is purposefully obtuse would be unable to catch that no matter how the player plays the game, they are playing it like a 1400’s conquistador with dreams of ruling the world.
