Megaquarium is 2018 simulation/strategy tycoon game about theme park management with an aquatic twist.
While there certainly have been a decent number of management simulations over the years catering for the desire to be everything from a town developer and prison architect to the Roller Tycoon series, this might be the first time that we have come across one which allows you to run an aquarium … with Megaquarium being just that.
Developed by Twice Circled,who previously gave us Big Pharma, which allowed you to build a Pharmaceutical Conglomerate, now they turn their attention to the world of aquarium management as over the course of the game you’re tasked with building and maintaining a variety of aquariums all of which come with their own set of goals to achieve.
The game gently eases you into things as you start by building simple tanks and filling them with the handful of basic species that are initially available. From here though the difficulty slowly ramps up with each new level bringing with it a higher expectation from the guests, who might be happy to see your tank filters and heaters on the low levels but soon you will be looking for creative ways to hide them away behind the scenes.
Unquestionably a colourful title this is also one that is less of a sandbox game and more of a shoebox game as rather than initially being given a huge area to fill, instead you push out the walls to create more space for tanks or resources to keep your guests happy, such as benches or drink machines. After all, the more impressed and happy your guests are the more you can make along with Science and Ecology points that can be put towards funding the research of new fish species as well as improvements for your equipment.
Megaquirum is a game of constant tinkering to maintain the balance as of course it’s not just the guests who have to be kept happy, as you also have to ensure that your exhibits are being properly cared for. If the tanks are not properly filtered or heated enough you’ll soon be faced with fish going belly up. At the same time, certain species can’t be kept together unless of course you want your smaller fish being turned into a tasty snack.
Solving the many problems involved in running a successful aquarium is actually a lot of fun and seeing your humble aquarium evolve into a thriving collection is quite an addictive process as sitting down for a quick hour of tinkering soon leads into looking at the clock and realising it is two in the morning. This of course only adds to how quick lythe game is to pick up even if there the occasional tricky element such as figuring out how to use pumps or how to place doors which compared to other building games here actually requires you to make a space to place the door into.
The other issue I found with the game is trying to keep track of what species I currently had. While it is possible to open windows for each tank, this soon becomes too cluttered and left me longing for a simple menu that told me how many of each species I had. As such, I found myself having to jot down my own list unless I wanted to run the risk of duplicate tanks which, while they might not affect your game, are just a little annoying when you’re trying to maximise the species being stocked.
For some of the more adventurous constructors the options available might feel a little too basic, even though the game offers a huge range of tank varieties as well as options to really add character to your aquarium, which should make it possible to construct the aquarium of your dreams. These largely based click and drop build mechanics have me hopeful that the game might see a console port as certainly it wouldn’t be hard to adapt to suit console controllers.
Unquestionably though this is a strong foundation for Twice Circled, having me look forward to seeing how the game develops in the coming months. For now, this is a SIM management game certainly worth investing some time in.