Cell Phase

Creature Phase

Tribal Phase

Civilization Phase

Space Phase

The game begins when a meteor crashes onto a planet carrying the molecular beginnings of the creature you have created. The meteor conveniently lands into a tide pool, providing the perfect environment for your cellular creatures to emerge and begin life on a new planet.

In the cell phase, you are responsible for controlling the cellular beginnings of your creature in a 2D environment. Creator Will Wright compared gameplay in the cellular level to Pac-Man as players maneuver their creatures through the water, avoiding predators and preying on smaller microbes.

Consuming other microbes or plants helps the player earn "DNA points" that can later be used to edit a creature's appearance and abilities. Players may also remove parts from their microbe in order to regain DNA points. If players die at this stage in the game, they have to start over again from an earlier evolution.

Throughout this stage, players can collect "golden shields" from their original meteor in order to gain new parts in the creature editor, like spikes or horns. Players also will deal with (relatively) giant creatures that are

As players advance through the cellular stage, the microbes will grow in size, and large objects from the background will move to the foreground. While the larger microbes present the threat of being eaten, players will eventually advance far enough to see land. At this point, the creature editor will force the player to add legs, and players can direct their creatures to emerge from the water, prompting the creature phase.