Link. Actually wasn't originally a mobile game, you can get it on your computer too. It's simple and elegant enough though that it makes for a great game on a phone. I think I may have gotten it in a Humble Bundle or something years ago. In case anyone wants to check it out.
Sure. I, like many, had a fun time playing it for like a week or so. But you then realized how shallow the game really was. They scrapped half the game modes and features.
The water level? What happened to that? You went from microbe to animal in like 10 minutes of game time. Going from single organism to tribe was not only repetitive, but it also fell completely short. If you notice in the intro video, they removed the phase of evolution where you build tools and go to tribal warfare in a primitive society. Nope, just attack other animals then go straight to building skyscrapers!
Then when you do planetary attacks, they called it a phase where it acted just like "basic risk and basic civilization." You kill 3-4 cities and then BAM! LETS CONQUER THE GALAXY!!!
The conquer the galaxy portion was probably the most thought out and executed part of the game. Unfortunately even that failed to become fun after you conquered 30 planets and couldn't build fleets.
Edit: In reality, here's what I thought Spore was going to be.
Also, less cartoony bullshit.
My recommendations are indy games:
Kerbal Space Program. By the time you're done with this game you'll have an intuitive knowledge of orbital mechanics and (with the right add-ons) the deep challenges involved in interplanetary exploration. Crazy addictive if you lean towards games where solving challenges is where the fun is.
I'd also recommend Osmos. It's simultaneously soothing and maddening. Give it a try, you'll understand what I mean.
Both are available through Steam.
You are a bubble. You have to get big in order to get to the next round. You have to absorb smaller bubbles to grow. But in order to move, you have to propel a bit of your mass in the opposite direction. The world is without friction. That means that a small amount of propellant can get you far if you are patient.
So to say, you are spending winning points in order to move. To conserve winning points and therefor raise the chance of succeeding, you have to plan your movement and stick with it, instead of constantly correcting or changing direction.
This is the only game that I played where chilling down and being patient are the most important skills for playing the game.
I'm not usually a fan of mobile gaming but some games lend themselves REALLY well to touch controls like http://www.osmos-game.com/ - the mobile version with touch is much more satisfying to play. Something to keep in mind.
If this is your game, I like it, but I have some suggestions. First is the music, I turned it off almost immediately. I recommend poking around Kevin MacLeod's royalty free music for a replacement. Second is a gripe with the browser version exclusively. It's a pain to have to switch in between the keyboard and mouse to reset the level. A quick keyboard shortcut to reset the level on the browser version would be much appreciated. Third, it's often hard to tell whether my character is actually bigger than the smiley I'm trying to eat. A little feedback could go a long way there. Osmos solved the problem by changing the color of other motes when you grew bigger than them, but I think you could get away with just a few different faces when your smiley gets close. Perhaps an "evil" grin when the other smiley is bigger than you, but a "scared" smiley when you're bigger. I think it would help the player from accidentally misjudging their relative size.
Other than those few interface gripes, I really enjoyed the game! There are some good puzzles in there!
Bought it.
I like the music. Reminds me of World-of-Goo.
or Flow
http://interactive.usc.edu/projects/cloud/flowing/black.html
or Osmos
There’s an incredible strategic puzzle game called Osmos based off this very concept. Every mission is to gobble up the smaller blobs, and avoid the ones bigger than you, to avoid getting eaten. Wonderful way to spend a few hours.
Hi, very interesting - I love this kind of games. So, I'm crossing my fingers that everything works well for you. When I saw your website, it reminded me of this http://www.osmos-game.com/.
I think their level building is excellent and worthy to get inspired :-)
I definitely recommend Terraria. Pretty cheap and pretty lightweight, too, I've bought a few copies when it's on sale for $2.50 to give to friends, but it's usually 10. I've got a few hundred hours sunk into it and still love it.
Another one is Osmos. It's an addicting physics/puzzle game.
And kudos for just 2 hours on Civ. My first day I played for a solid 12 hours haha