computer game that teaches an understanding of evolutionary processes?

So I spent the weekend making a computer game with a bunch of complete strangers. We went from nothing to a finished game in 48 hours, with things like sleep deprivation abounding.

In any case, with computer games on the brain, I am wondering how one might create a fun game that teaches the basic processes of evolution. Not the mechanics and dirty work of getting it running (that’s what engineers are for!), but the concepts it would try to incorporate and the abilities it might try to teach.

Let us assume that we are targeting high-school aged students who haven’t yet taken high-school biology. It is difficult to get them involved in studying (because it’s ‘boring’), but if they are really dedicated to the things they find fun and socially acceptable (like games!). They might already have all the formal biology education they’ll ever get, and know Evolution as ‘one of those theories about how animals, y’know, like, change.’

From the topics that we’ve covered so far, which ones would you consider most important? These can be within the context of biology or any other application of evolutionary theory.

How would you frame this in terms of a game?

(I’ll write my own response to this at some point, but I want to hear what others think first.)