So Many Museums, So Little Time

Two Point Museum has been keeping me occupied and I'm genuinely enjoying it.  I am likely fairly far from completely finishing it (you can run your museums up to the 5-star level, this is a big change from the 3-stars in the previous games), but I'm fine with that.  Here's what I've enjoyed so far:

There is a great variety of exhibit types and each has their own particular management quirks.  You start off with the mostly straightforward pre-history exhibits--fossils and dinosaur bones.  They're easy to manage because all your experts need to do is "restore" them (keep them clean).  Dinosaur bones provide a bit of challenge because they are discovered in pieces and it generally takes multiple trips to complete the set.  After you earn an initial star you unlock other museum types...and boy oh boy, there is quite the variety.  Here's a rundown:

--Supernatural exhibits.  A whacky collection of "cursed items," (think horror movie-like items--your cursed dolls, creepy rocking horses, and janky animatronics) ghost wrangling paraphernalia (apparently an array of vacuums adapted for ghost catching), and the best part--the polterguests!  Polterguests are spirits that can be captured and placed on display for viewing as an exhibit.  Polterguests can come from several historical periods and have their own likes and dislikes when it comes to their accommodations.  They also require frequent "ghost whispering" sessions from experts to keep them content (lest they try to escape).  If you're striving for the absolute gold medal polterguest, then you absolutely must capture a famous spirit!  Famous spirits have a lot of buzz and are a major attraction--they include knights, pirates, and others.

My Tiger Shark display.

--Marine Life/Aquarium exhibits.  Marine life experts can be sent on expedition to collect a variety of fish that can be displayed in aquariums.  Fish can come from different habitats and have different requirements for their tanks--this can include food, temperature, and temperament.  Experts must also frequently attend to the tanks to make sure that they stay clean and that the fish feeders stay stocked.  One of the challenging aspects of managing fish is that some fish will fight (and can kill each other) or will eat smaller fish.  It's vitally important to pay attention to their traits or else you will wind up with a tank full of dead fish (and who wants to see that?).  I've managed to kill an entire tank of fish thanks to not fully understanding the traits of a sea monster that I placed with other fish.  Luckily, even if you do kill off your fish, you can either breed or send out experts on expedition to capture more fish.  I've probably had the hardest time with my marine life museum--the fish disaster happened and I also had a thief steal an exhibit that I apparently can't replace.  (*I will prevail!)

A mixture of different aquarium displays.

--Space exhibits.  Alien objects have been spotted high in the forest and it's basically the perfect opportunity to study and display those objects.  The space museum features experts who must first dig through piles of space junk to find mysterious objects with different shaped symbols on them.  Once you can send your experts out into the expanses of space to explore, you start finding other mysterious objects that feature patterns of symbols...combining the correct symbol displays with the larger artifacts unlocks them (and provides a boost of buzz).  It's enjoyable to see the unlocked objects.

Once you've made a bit of progress you also unlock special Cheese-moonger displays (*if you haven't played Two Point Campus, the cheese-moongers are a type of alien who farm moon cheese...a delicacy--don't ask where it comes from...).  It's a fun little call back to the other Two Point games.

--Science exhibits.  A collection of classical inventions with a sort of steam-punk vibe.  Some of these items can be tweaked to have special effects on guests--like increasing buzz or entertainment.  They're also prone to catching on fire, so you need to keep those janitors trained up on fire suppression.  (Honestly, I haven't played the science museum too much, so it's on my to-do list).

--Botany exhibits--plants; this can include man-eating plants that will consume guests and turn them into other types of guests--one plant turns them into clowns and another into vampires.  Plants require a humid environment that is provided by misters and can also require warmer temperatures (installing heaters is a must).  Like fish, if your plants aren't tended to by experts, they will die and you'll have to replace them.  There's quite a variety of fun plants to unlock and I also feel like I need to make more progress on this one.

Along with all these big categories, there are also smaller subcategories in each type of exhibit.  For example, pre-history includes fossils, but also includes frozen in time items (creatures and items frozen in ice) and "pre-history's mysteries"--items whose use has been lost to time.  There are a ton of items to discover and each museum can be themed or a sort of mix-and-match of different types of exhibits.  Each type of exhibit attracts a certain type of guest, so there is quite a variety in the folks who visit your museums.

I've been impressed with what I've seen from Two Point Museum and look forward to finishing it and writing up a full review.  Happy weekend (and happy gaming) to everyone!