EA must get a kick out of teasing the public like this, releasing information about Spore ever so slowly, like a stripper carefully removing her clothing one by one. This time, they’ve unveiled the Tribal Stage, the third in the Spore evolutionary chain. Naturally, they’ve also released some screenshots to keep folks salivating.

The Tribal Stage starts you off in a (surprise!) tribe, with a number of powers available to you depending on how you did in the Cell and Creature Stages. You’ve just discovered tools and use them for a number of tasks such as hunting, fishing, or domesticating wild animals. I wonder if discovering tools involves your tribe being inspired by a mysterious black obelisk.

Anyway, you can also buy more tools, use these to buy tribal accessories, and of course use them to make new friends or enemies with other tribes. Whichever route you take with your neighboring tribes (peaceful or aggressive), take over five to dominate the continent and form a civilization.