Spore/Cell Stage

The first phase of existence, the tide pool phase is sometimes referred to as the cellular phase or microbial phase. The player guides simple protean microbes around in a 2D environment where the microbes must deal with fluid dynamics, being eaten, and weaker microbes. There are many different types of cells, many of which can damage and/or eat the player's microbe. Once the player's microbe has eaten several cells, it forms an egg which, when clicked, opens the microbe editor which allows the player to modify the appearance, shape, and abilities of the microbe. The player can then add various offensive, defensive, and/or mobility abilities, spending "DNA points".

As the microbe gets larger, objects that are in the background move to the foreground, which can result in one's microbe being eaten by a much more massive microbe that had previously been swimming in the background. The surface land becomes more and more prominent, and the option to move to land eventually appears, allowing the creature to crawl onto land to begin the creature phase. Legs are not a prerequisite to moving to land; if the creature lacks legs, it will move slug-like on the land, which implies there will be a direct correlation between the cellular and creature phases. The microbe resembles a strange insect with cartoonish, human-like eyes, which were used "to make it cute," according to Wright during the 2007 TED seminar.

The main units of "currency" are DNA points.