My eldest son shares your views entirely.

I bought Spore for my kids when it came out but wound up playing it far more than them!

Spode demanding tribute to their religion again? Oh no! I destroyed all your cities and turned your planet into a nature preserve so you can never come back.

TA was great too.

That looks really good and will scratch the ancient Starcraft itch. Thanks!

Late to the party, but for me Endless Sky: https://github.com/endless-sky

As far as I know, it’s the only open source and crowed developed game out there.

If you remember EV series, it’s basically that. But better and under constant development.