Megaquarium
Aside from my love of complex RPGs and large open worlds, I
also am something of a fan of tycoon-style games and management games. I’ve yet
to find a proper zoo game that’s gripped me but there are a couple in my Steam Library.
One that has buried deep into my soul is Megaquarium. It’s
your typical tycoon game – you build up money to expand your aquarium and
unlock more animals and items through research and levelling up. You need to
make sure the animals needs are met, including diet, temperature, water quality
and even roommates. You have to make sure the species are compatible with each
other to be housed together.
The Good
·
Story mode: the story mode is brilliant for
tutorials and learning how the game works. It doesn’t make it too simple for
you but it teaches you all the things you need to know for success. It keeps
things interesting throughout and the progression feels good.
·
Variety: there’s such a variety of animals and décor
so you can really have a lot of fun designing and planning your aquarium.
·
Sandbox mode: The sandbox mode is perfect
because you can customise everything to suit your playstyle. You can limit your
money, research options and increase the difficulty for a real challenge to
test your skills and knowledge. Or you can set it to have infinite money and
everything already unlocked so you can design and build your dream aquarium to
your hearts content.
·
Education: I have learned so much about fish
from playing this game. Every animal has a little bit of information about them.
Visiting my local Sea Life centre after playing this game was so cool because I
recognised many of the fish from playing this game.
·
Art style: it’s basic but cute and it looks
great. The fish all look unique and the art style has captured each species
well in my opinion. Cartoony but they look like their real counterparts.
·
First person mode: this I discovered by accident
but there is a mode where you scroll the mousewheel or zoom in completely and
this puts you in first person mode, with WSAD controls and the ability to walk
around your aquarium and see it like your guests do. You can walk through the
tunnel tanks and get up close and personal with your collection.
·
Add-ons: the game has had three paid DLC
expansions, all of which have added so much content to the game.
o
Freshwater Frenzy added a new campaign and a
bunch of new animals that need freshwater and different environmental requirements.
It also adds breeding for some species, including hybridising for new colour
and pattern combinations. It added some reptiles too and a bunch of other new
items.
o
Architects Collection added some new animals
including the decorator crab and mantis shrimp. As well as a ton of new design
options and decorations.
o
Deep Freeze is my favourite of the lot. It added
abyssal animals like the angler fish and goblin shark, needing specialised tanks
to replicate the water pressures of the abyssal zones. It also added polar
species that need freezing temperatures and ice including puffins, penguins,
seals and polar bears! And another 5 level campaign to learn the details of the
new species you can add to your aquarium.
·
Regular updates based on feedback: the game has received
a lot of love over the years and a lot of the early issues with staff AI and
the like have been fixed. Lots of quality of life updates have made a big
difference.
The Not So Good
·
As mentioned, the staff AI can be a bit awkward
at times. Their decisions on prioritising jobs and doing things efficiently are
weird at times and it can lead to issues with fish not getting fed on time and
risking sickness or death. You need to manage them carefully to prevent
problems.
·
Your guests complain about not having enough
drinks, food and toilets, meaning you need to take up a lot of space placing
these things literally everywhere. Bins as well. Losing prestige because they
can’t see the forty bins you’ve placed around the aquarium is a bit of a pain
in the backside.
·
Speaking of prestige loss – the guests also
complain about seeing too much of the same tank decorations. The thing is a lot
of the animals need a certain amount of rocks, plants or caves in the tank and
you’re limited in how many of these you have available. It’s better with the
add-ons as more options have been added but you do eventually run out of
options and need to reuse them. Especially when you’re trying to reach the next
prestige level and this stuff is bringing you down.
My Thoughts
I’ve got over a hundred hours in this game on Steam, and I
played it a lot on PS4 as well. So you can tell I enjoy it. When I’m in the
mood for a chill time where I can be creative and take care of animals, it’s
exactly what I need. It’s generally relaxing, and I love the vast range of
animals you can acquire.
I love being able to zoom in and walk around my aquarium,
seeing what I’ve built and watching the fish. The stakes are only as high as
you want them to be and the sandbox options really let you play this game
whichever way you want.
If you like these kinds of old-school tycoon games, this
game is worth your time. I love the addition of penguins, puffins and sea
turtles as well. I’ve had so much fun with this game over the years and I come
back to it every so often for a peaceful time with some cute fish.
Let me know what you think, have you played this game? Does it sound like your thing?
Emi the Cat Lady 💜
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