re: Has anyone played spore yet?

I bought it Sunday, not quite what I expected but pretty fun.

The first 4 phases are more or less mini games. They're really simple and after one or two play throughs, they get a little meh.

The space stage makes up for it in size, there's a lot more to do and it's a lot more complicated and challenging.

The best part is obviously the customization, I find myself wanting to start over and over on new planets just to come up with new creature/structure designs.

Over all it's a pretty good game maybe a 7 or 8 out of 10. It's very casual friendly, which sucks if you like a little more depth but again, the customization makes up for it.