Looking back, childhood ambitions certainly made for some wild, fickle times. It was all too common for a highly impressionable mind to latch onto changing ideas of a dream job, finding starry-eyed awe in various professions with positive media representation, ranging anywhere from an archaeologist to a pilot and more.
The notion of being able to experience these different lives without the risk of real-world consequences fed into the tycoon and simulation game boom in the early 2000s, inviting players to live out some of their fantasies. While the genre is well past its prime now, Two Point Studios and parent company Sega have preserved its spirit with two outings in recent years – a hospital first, followed by a university campus.
As it turns out, the third time’s still the charm. Two Point Museum shifts its focus from a medical or academic setting to, well, a natural history museum that needs to be kept up and running, featuring a familiar core gameplay loop that involves curating a space, building facilities, managing cash flow, and growing the business. This time, the risk-and-reward factor is elevated through fresh touch-ups to its classic formula, with a hands-on preview proving to be an enjoyable, charming affair that paints an optimistic future for the forthcoming management sim.
Despite the brand-new museum-focused twist, the opening act, which essentially acts as a tutorial, immediately radiates a comforting presence. It inherits the bright, quirky aesthetic of its predecessors, conveyed through clean user interface (UI) elements like menu offerings, and does a good job of welcoming newcomers. Prior understanding of past titles isn’t necessary, and the controls are mostly intuitive and easy to grasp. Non-visual learners may require some time to navigate the lack of literary and written instructions, but everything will fall into place nicely past the initial hurdle.
Instead of building hospital beds and classrooms, Two Point Museum tasks players with constructing exhibits, collecting donations, hiring staff, and maintaining cleanliness levels to attract visitors and increase buzz. It’s all pretty standard fare until the hook comes into play – where progression and expansion were previously limited by money, exhibits occupy the inhibiting role here.
See, these artefacts don’t just magically appear in the game. Experts will have to embark on expeditions around the world to recover them, and there are always accompanying risks, be it sustaining injuries, encountering traps, or getting lost in a dense forest. Not even the seemingly safest choice is free of consequences – returning with tar-covered boots, for instance, leaves dirty tracks through the museum, requiring a janitor to clean them up while the employee rests in the staff lounge, possibly triggering a manpower crisis in the event of low headcount. These undertakings happen off-screen and take up a fair bit of time, with greater perils and an extended travel window yielding rarer, higher-grade spoils.
This risk-and-reward incentive offers a refreshing break of pace for franchise veterans, who now have more agency than before. The first attraction, boasting a prehistoric theme, builds its identity around dinosaur bones, fossils, and other ancient relics found in various locations on the map, unlocked by achieving different museum milestones. As there’s no fixed order to visit them, players are free to chart a course that fits their current objectives, so long as the prerequisites for each site are met. Different perks can also be selected to reduce, but not eliminate, risks, made available via experts with specific field specialisation.
While exploration unfolds in the background, the interior space begs to be spruced up. Two Point Museum opens up a lot of room for personal customisation, packing additional bells and whistles like extendable walls, archways, and new floor types. Indeed, the dress-to-impress emphasis is stronger here – the exhibits need to look good, and players can place decorative items around the centrepiece to increase attraction. If they align perfectly with the theme, that’s even better.
Aesthetics is just one part of the equation, however. Visitor engagement is equally important, especially when there are different kinds of guests to satisfy in the game. For the average museum-goer, information boards do the job by providing extra knowledge, but children won’t be as interested in the educational aspect. Here’s where interactive exhibits come in handy, keeping their interest levels high as they roam around the space.
Then, there’s the profit-making part. The experience of running a museum places it closer to a tycoon title than its previous two outings, with various player actions capable of influencing the cash flow. For starters, gift shop and entry ticket prices can be adjusted, while strategically placed donation bins bring in a little extra cash. Occasionally, Two Point County – where the games are set in – will loan an item out to players for a fixed period and reward them with a gratuitous sum of money if it attracts a certain amount of attention. The catch is that it’s usually a boring piece of art, such as a normal-looking wood sculpture. Health and safety inspection visits are also back, so it’s necessary to keep the museum in top form regularly.
All these considerations introduce welcome depth into the overall gameplay and are more than sufficient to keep individuals busy (in a good way). As genre enthusiasts would know, there’s always plenty to juggle, with managerial duties in Two Point Museum split between maintaining morale, staff training, role assignments, and more. Keeping track of the happenings can be overwhelming, and it’s easy to get carried away by the whole affair, but the sequel finds a silver lining in its slower pace.
Where individuals had to blitz through requirements in Hospital and Campus due to their stringent nature, the sense of urgency isn’t as strong here. There isn’t a time limit assigned to building exhibits, allowing them to be curated or rearranged comfortably until the point of satisfaction. The process is more therapeutic than expected, sparking a sense of achievement even when running low on creativity. As the museum starts to grow, so will the pressure to perform; thankfully, it stays at an enjoyable level and doesn’t edge into challenging or hardcore territory.
It certainly helps that the series’ witty humour has been retained. Like its predecessors, Two Point Museum features commentary from the wisecracking P.A. Tannoy, who’s as amusing as before. The lighthearted atmosphere makes it easy to let out a smile or surprised laughter during clever quips, such as her asking for direct donations from visitors when they are unable to locate the donation bins.
Gameplay mechanics offer the same entertaining touch, too. Placing a frozen caveman in a non-cooling environment causes the ice to melt and him to run around the museums and wreak havoc. An amusing sight it may be, the mishap highlights the importance of fulfilling conditions. The limitation plays a more prominent role in the second act, which unlocks an additional museum with marine life or supernatural theming.
No matter the pick, players will have to build it up from scratch again with a separate pool of finances, manpower, and resources. The aquatic exhibit was chosen for this preview, opening up access to more fish of various quality that live in different water climates – temperate species, for instance, cannot survive outside of the mid-temperature range, while tropical types require a heater in the tank.
Expeditions work in the same way, allowing for the discovery of new underwater species with a similar list of potential dangers. What’s more notable, though, is the distinctive flair that sets it apart from the first design, offering a mix of indoor and outdoor elements, as well as new building options like a coffee machine. The rows of aquariums, bathed in a warm blue glow, ooze magnetising calmness, serving as a juxtaposition against the bustle of the garden.
Gameplay mechanics, for the most part, remain unchanged, promising a seamless transition from one museum to another. Conversely, this also means the game’s weak spot is carried over – players won’t be able to progress through the stages if they are unable to hit their milestones or are in a perpetual state of financial loss.
In line with its flexible nature, Two Point Museum will include crossover museums and elements once unlocked, bringing the likes of the spooky Swim Reaper fish, and the Exterragator, an aquatic skeleton mash-up of prehistory and marine life, to common exhibits. There wasn’t room to try it out during the preview, but the premise is a tantalising prelude to the studio’s strong creative muscles, and it’d be fun to see its full potential unfold throughout the game.
In the meantime, excitement is bubbling over for the return to Two Point County. There’s no other management sim quite like Two Point Museum on the market, with its renewed formula delivering time-sinking enjoyment and unearthing the joy of discovery. Being a manager is hard work, and some optimism certainly wouldn’t hurt.
Two Point Museum launches on 5 March 2025 for Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, with the PS5 Digital Edition slated for 4 March.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
