Taylor Bauer
Taylor BauerThe Two Point games speak to me on a level above many other management sims. With equal parts zany characters and a detailed building planning simulator, you’re managing everything from hauntings to a monthly ledger. Two Point Studios’ first two games, Two Point Hospital and Two Point Campus reached varying heights. While Hospital to me is a near-perfect game, Campus failed to resonate with me in a way that kept me hooked. I’m happy to say Two Point Museum‘s focus and progression as you become a master curator is the best output the studio has presented us to date. Here are my thoughts on Two Point Museum.
Two Point Museum is expertly presented to you with one key mechanic at a time. At the start of the game, you’ll spend time learning your way around Memento Mile, a traditional prehistoric museum. Things like managing tour guides and gift shop placement are fun elements to learn along the way, but it all begins with a major component of this entry in the series: expeditions. Expeditions are how you can add new items to your collection and put them on display. The goal of each museum is to find new things, display them with proper signage and decor, and then earn donations to fund further expeditions and expansions.
It’s a game loop you grab onto easily, but I’d say the difficulty curve in Two Point Museum is fair but tough. There won’t be some easy way to cheese your way through the necessary milestones you need to hit to progress Memento Mile or move on to other museums. Unlike Campus, which I found to be a bit aimless and less rewarding to work through, every new mechanic in Two Point Museum feels fresh and adds to the overall experience. Even some of the systems like security cameras and managing burglars (which feel more tedious than fun,) are a nice challenge to balance out the more naturally fun parts of running your dream museum.
One element that Two Point Studios does well is to offer you challenges with room to let your creativity run wild. Sure, you’ll be forced to add things like workshops or training rooms, but you can place them where you’d like. In terms of staff maintenance, you can choose who to hire, each individual bringing their strengths and weaknesses. You’ll need staff for museum curation, janitorial duties, and the ticket booths. They can also be used to fight hauntings at your supernatural museum, and even build fun child-focused exhibits that keep kids from getting bored while wandering your museum. Hire people without using strategy and these finer elements become quite tough.
Of course, it’s not as simple as finding a dinosaur fossil and putting it out to reap the rewards. Many of the more complex exhibits need multiple pieces, some of which are only accessible in harder-to-reach expedition sites that require you to meet requirements like overall guest happiness before you can unlock them. In the same vein as Civilization, there is a “one more turn” feeling to playing Two Point Museum, and I’d say this game feels the most addicting to me in the series so far. Part of it is just the drip feed of content and new systems, but the major element that resonates with me here is the variety of museum types.
In addition to the prehistoric option, you have four other museum types you’ll work with: marine life, supernatural, science, and space. It’s truly a blast learning the intricacies of each museum type, each of which have gorgeous decor and finer details to use to your advantage. You’ll find success putting a bathroom in a museum with some exhibits and calling it a day. A whole other level is reached, however, when you’re adding spooky wallpaper to an exhibit space that features haunted pirates who play in an animatronic band. I loved the game from the start, but when I spent time decorating a new botanical exhibit only to watch a plant eat a guest, I knew this was becoming my favorite entry in the franchise.
My few minor complaints are a product of my frustration with management sims. For one, expeditions come with varying levels of hazards depending on whether you rush a trip or take your time to survey the area more thoroughly. Sometimes, despite setting things up the way you want to minimize risk, you still end up with a huge headache like your helicopter getting damaged or (in extreme cases) staff dying. There’s a randomness to management or building sims that often feels like it teaches you how to mitigate risk only to show you that it’s only offering you so much protection. While realistic, it just feels counterintuitive to the consolations you make in planning logistics.
Another small gripe is the security system I mentioned earlier. You’ll need cameras and a security hub to watch for burglars or heists, two things that of course are featured in a museum game. However, hitting the right amount of protection between cameras and security personnel feels like you’re just spamming the purchase button and putting security measures literally everywhere. Again, I guess this is realistic, but it felt like there were some barriers to you being able to feel these mechanics out and choose optimum placements. I’m fine with the few headaches because, overall, the game is too fun to allow little bumps in the road to slow you down.
Overall, Two Point Museum is the best entry in the franchise for its depth in customization and addicting management systems. With five museum types to learn and master, you have tons of content and room to make each museum your own. With the Two Point Studios’ signature looney sense of humor and truly well-developed tutorial system to introduce deep management processes, the British studio has always been good at what they do, but they’re great in this new entry. Two Point Museum is out on March 4th for PC via Steam, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 5.
An Xbox Series X review copy of Two Point Museum was provided by SEGA for this review.
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74 Two Point Museum
$29.99
Pros
- Great Two Point humor and creativity to wild situations
- Deep management sim systems that are rewarding
- A fair challenge that forces you to use strategy without feeling helpless
- The best Two Point game to date
Cons
- Managing security issues feels a bit tedious compared to other systems
- Expeditions can sometimes feel weighted against you, even if you prepare correctly
