Bought this game on sale, looked like a cute management game. At time of writing I have not bought or played any DLC.
[h3]Gameplay[/h3]
The gameplay loop is surprisingly fun, and surprisingly deep. What begins as a simple "hire x person to do y job" eventually cascades to a labyrinthine "hire x person to perform y job faster, specializing them away from z jobs, while retaining w abilities..." and just keeps giving. I am [b]shocked[/b] by the amount of times this is revisited on a playthrough. Characters are valued for a certain trait at the beginning of the game, but by the middle and end those may become entirely less useful. I found myself constantly thinking through how to optimize my museum for various tasks.
This game is very polished, in a way that is rarely seen these days in my opinion. In order to maximize value for exhibits in your museum, there are various traits and perks that the player is intended to stack onto each exhibit. However, this isn't as cut-and-dry as "bones go here, live animals over there." Instead, certain exhibits may receive a bonus by being near a separate type of exhibit, and these may not always coincide with one-another. This leads to the player needing to rethink not just the type of exhibit to seek out next, but also the layout of the entire museum. Creating a more cohesive museum has in-game benefits. It doesn't just look pretty.
[h3] Aesthetics [/h3]
Characters in game have personalities, and guests fall into categories that desire different things. For instance, a professor guest will want a strong tour, but a family will want entertaining alcoves for the kids. I don't love the art style, but the exhibits themselves are cute. During gameplay your museums (yes, plural) will all have their own aesthetic feel, and look like a bustling museum full of guests and events. This feels like a modern roller coaster tycoon.
[h3] Content [/h3]
12 hours in, there's no end in sight. What i thought would be a few exhibits (the guide book has these greyed out silhouettes) has evolved into layers upon layers of depth. There are several museums that the player is meant to maintain and curate simultaneously, and each provide benefits to one-another. Again, the level of polish here is noticeable.
