An aquarium management sim seems like a good idea

Megaquarium

Sim game developer Twice Circled has moved from the world of pharmaceutical conglomerates to fish keeping. The studio’s next title, Megaquarium, is a tycoon game about running a public aquarium.

A lot more work goes into keeping a healthy fish tank than most people seem to realize, so I think this will be trickier than the cutesy aesthetic and seemingly straightforward subject matter imply.

Running an inefficient aquarium is easy. To really thrive and take on the greatest challenges you’ll need a lateral thinking brain and attention to detail. Will you group your animals by food type, water quality or something else entirely? Will you locate your equipment in a centralised hub using pumps or spread them out embracing the zoning system? How will you optimise your layout so that visitors can find your tanks and staff can easily access them?

You’ll have to concern yourself with staffing, bookkeeping, and designing an optimal layout, but the management aspect I’m most keen about is meeting the animal care requirements. There are “almost 100 different marine species” to choose between and they all have specialized needs. This was always my favorite part of Zoo Tycoon, so I’m happy to see more games of this particular ilk.

Megaquarium will launch on Steam in just a few weeks on September 13. I want some garden eels!