Have you ever wondered what it might be like to run your own museum? Whether it’s collecting artifacts and displaying exhibits or guiding visitors and catching thieves, Two Point Games' latest institution management sim is a delight forenthusiasts of the antiquated and the eccentric.
Two Point Museumfollows in the footsteps ofTwo Point HospitalandTwo Point Campusto bring us yet another light-hearted yet deeply engrossing title, this time centered around the maintenance and management of several different museum sites. As a master curator, it is your job to restore these dilapidated institutions back to their former glory by sourcing exhibits to display, optimizing the visitor experience andkeeping staff from losing their minds.
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Unlike its predecessors, the game pushes aesthetics to the forefront and rewards creative decoration and interior design. However, there’s more to running a successful museum than just having it look pretty. So, get your tickets ready and allow me to take you on a tour of all thingsTwo Point Museum.
Exhibitions and Expeditions
Two Point Museumis one of those games in which a quick glance at the clock reveals that it’s 4am, and you’ve just spent the last 10 hours organizing a dinosaur exhibit in order to better impress a goofy horde of NPCs, all the while ensuring they have enough vending machines to satisfy their needs and milk them for cash at every step of the way. It’s very easy to get absorbed in, largely thanks to itsintuitive controls and a great sense of progression.
As a curator, it is your job to source different artifacts and increase the Buzz around your museum. This is achieved by displaying and maintaining high-quality exhibits, but they won’t just spring up out of nowhere.
First, you’ll have to send your Experts off on Expeditions, small mini-events which occur off-screen and require both training and preparation in order to be successful. Once you’ve selected your team and equipped them appropriately, you can send them off to various locations such as prehistoric jungles and icy mountain caves in order to find new exhibits - though be warned, each Exhibition comes with its fair share of dangers.
Scouting and discovering new locations for Expeditions is always exciting, particularly when a brand-new specimen is revealed and can be rolled out to the public.
Starting out with a few humble fossils, you will gradually assemble a more substantial and impressive collection which in turn increases the number and enthusiasm of its visitors. Once you have your first museum up and running, you will then be invited to curate a second collection in a different location.There are a total of five different museums to unlock, and each has its own distinct theme, such as Prehistoric, Supernatural or Science.
The varied locations and their respective themes keep things fresh and interesting, with a vastly different atmosphere in the Supernatural Wailon Lodge compared to the Passwater Cove Aquarium, for example.
It may seem like a lot to stay on top of, butTwo Point Museumis, for the most part, a stress-free experience.
Each theme will also have its own special requirements, such as Spirits needing Poltergeist rooms in Supernatural museums or fish needing specific conditions met in their Aquariums. While generally operating in a similar manner, each theme has its own quirks and ideal Guest type (e.g Goth, Tourist, Botany Enthusiast).
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You will also need to recruit capable staff members across a range of areas, including security and maintenance duties. Staff members will also have their own needs which must be met, such as proper break rooms and decent wages which reflect their relative experience.
It may seem like a lot to stay on top of, butTwo Point Museumis, for the most part, a stress-free experience. The budget is fairly easy to manage provided you don’t overbuild too early, and Guests are generally quite favorable in their reviews unless your museum is in complete disrepair.
The Challenge of Curation
There is usually something around your museum to be improved, repaired or analyzed, butthe most important factor when it comes to generating an income is the satisfaction of Guests. These visitors to your museum are, of course, a needy bunch.
In addition to Entertainment and Knowledge, they will also need to be provided with facilities like bathrooms, gift shops, places to relax and places to put their trash (they’ll create a heck of a mess if not). An additional unique mechanic is that of the Environment need, which rewards players who creatively decorate their exhibits.
Each Guest will leave a review at the end of their visit based on their overall experience, and inspectors will come periodically to award star ratings which unlock further museums. Inspections are also important for securing government grants which can provide a substantial income.
As your museums grow in size, you’re able to also expand to surrounding plots of land, and you will be encouraged to combine elements from different themes such as Botany and Aquatics or Prehistory and Science.
In addition to the main museums, a series of curator challenges will also arise. For example, an established exhibition center might ask you to take care of the security for a specified period of time and ensure that items aren’t stolen from them. Completing these challenges will earn special rewards for your other museums, so there is always an incentive to take on these new tasks.
Completing objectives will earn you Kudosh, which can in turn be used to unlock further items like decorative elements.The system works well, and it doesn’t ever feel like a chore to complete these objectives; they serve more as a helpful direction than anything.
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The Two Point County dream continues to grow.
For those who want a more laid-back experience, there is always the Sandbox mode which offers the freedom to construct exhibits as you please without any set objectives or themes. If things get too difficult to manage, you can always slow down the time speed or even pause the game entirely to make adjustments.
It is precisely this lack of pressure that makesTwo Point Museumsuch an enjoyable experience. Even the more difficult objectives are usually pushing you towards unlocking a better reward anyway.
Exit Through The Gift Shop
I think the best comparison for newcomers to theTwo Pointseries would be that it is somewhere betweenThe Simsand Ubisoft’sAnnoseries.Two Point Museummanages to strike the perfect balance between multi-faceted complexity and easy-to-manage automation. The game can therefore be as easy or as complicated as you want to make it, and there is no penalty for focusing attention on the Prehistoric museum while neglecting the Aquatic one, for example.
For those who are already familiar with theTwo Pointseries, there is still plenty of innovation to keep this title interesting, and the inclusion of the Environment mechanic really rewards clever and beautiful aesthetic designs.
Everything Two Point Museum sets out to do, it achieves with flying colors.
Two Point Museumalso manages to keep things entertaining and humorous through the in-game radio stations and announcements. Characters will also have bizarre and funny names, often related to their particular fields of interest.
From a visual standpoint,Two Point Museumfollows the same slightly goofy aesthetic as its predecessors, but this works perfectly well and the game would certainly not benefit from trying to look more realistic. This easy-on-the-eye style is reminiscent ofThe SimsorAnimal Crossing, and the music also does a great job of complimenting the serene atmosphere.
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In terms of performance, I had no issues whatsoever with this game. Even running a heavily cluttered museum with over 400 Guests at a time,I never once experienced any frame drops or crashing.
All things considered, I think it’s fair to say thatTwo Point Museumis a real gem among management sims. Playing it has been like unearthing a pristine fossil which I am now proud to display and talk about.
One can only hope that the game continues to receive attention from its developers as there is still a lot of DLC potential for the game (imagine an Egyptian exhibition!). However, as things are, there is still plenty to do and enough variability to keep things interesting.
Closing Thoughts
As a newcomer to the Two Point series, I was pleasantly surprised by how intuitive and accessible Two Point Museum is, but that’s not to say there isn’t still a decent challenge in trying to manage and maintain the different museum sites. Having since played both Two Point Hospital and Two Point Campus, I can confidently say that Museum is the strongest entry in the series so far. Everything Two Point Museum sets out to do, it achieves with flying colors. From the core gameplay loop to the specifics of Expeditions and arrangement, everything comes very naturally and effortlessly. I have already clocked up over 25 hours so far, and I can’t imagine getting bored with this game any time soon.
