PARKASAURUS Preview for Steam

Early in the 2000’s Tycoon games were all the rage. Spurred on by highly successful titles like Rollercoaster Tycoon game publishers, big and small, tried to cash in on the craze with business simulators of all stripes. From Airports, to Casinos and even the Moon Tycoon games varied wildly in quality, often lacking polish or balance. However, this era also produced one of the best management games of all time, Zoo Tycoon. Tasked with running a small zoo, players build enclosures, attractions, decorations and more as they cater to the needs of both guests and animals. Subsequent expansions added undersea animals and, most interestingly, dinosaurs. While the game was a huge hit, the sequels were not. Today, all that’s left of the once innovative original is a pay to play app game and a maligned Xbox port. Parkasaurus seeks to fill this void.

The first game from WashBear studio, made up of two designers who helped create Gaucamelee, Parkasaurus is what happens when you mix Jurassic Park with googly eyes and low polygon neon. A park simulator, you do all the things you might expect from a Tycoon game of yore. Dinosaur exhibits and the park itself can be customized with a wide assortment of both cosmetic and game altering items. Shops and food stalls can be placed, colored and price adjusted. A host of employees, each with different roles and stats, can be hired and trained. While a love letter to the Tycoon games of the past, Parkasaurus makes meaningful additions and improvements to the formula.

The Dinosaurs came from space, as the talking dino from the tutorial explains. With this flimsy premise I was let loose to make the Jurassic Park of my dreams. Beginning with a clutch of Triceratops eggs I created my first exhibit. Triceratops, like all other dinosaurs, each require specific biomes to live in. These environments can be altered by altering the ground to either snow or sand, placing specific plants or rocks, creating bodies of water, or even by adjusting elevation in areas of the exhibit. My three horned friends require a jungle exhibit it turns out. By placing a variety of trees, bushes, and bodies of water, I turn what was once plain grass into an attractive environment. While Triceratops are cool and all, especially when they wear fedoras, I crave variety.

My first new species was the mighty Stegosaurus, followed by some other less interesting dinos whose name I can’t recall. Until, finally, I bred my first carnivores, a pair of Spinosaurus. Acquiring new dinosaurs is a journey. First you must unlock a family of dinos (i.e. Ceratopsidae) on a heart tech tree, advanced by keeping your animals happy. Then you may hire scientists to send on expeditions to find new fossils in a diversionary mini game. Hidden in the sediment layers of a 10 x 10 grid are the fossils, tracks, and sometimes money. Each scientist has a specific digging shape that you can use to unearth the treasure. These uses are limited so it becomes a fun little puzzle to try to dig out as many bones as you can without breaking them by accidentally clicking on an exposed piece twice. From there you can use your finds to create eggs of that family. The variety of species is immense, Ceratopsidae alone contain about five different animal species, each with different needs. Despite the ease of the process, I often found myself almost entirely ignoring paleontology digs later in the game once I’d acquired a team of skilled scientists and a hoard of bones. Still, this didn’t mean I had nothing to do.

Indeed, one facet of the game I noticed is the constant barrage of things to do. Popups, reminders, and a million other tiny details make it so you’re constantly clicking on something. I found myself consistently jumping through menus to optimize the tiniest bits of my park. A day feels surprisingly short and there’s always something to do tomorrow. Parkasaurus has the feeling of an amped up Stardew Valley, wherein you always have something to focus on in a day as you gradually improve your farm. Starting from almost nothing, then growing into a thriving park proved to be an equally gratifying experience. Parkasaurus seems designed to drain away your free time, inducing a Zen like state, “just one more day.”

Gratification, both immediate and delayed, was an integral facet of my experience with Parkasaurus. While filling the science and heart tech trees were easy, given enough time; by the end of my experience with the game I felt I still had so many avenues left to explore. While still in early access, WashBear is creating a promising dinosaur park simulator that only has more room to improve.

Check Out the Parkasaurus Steam Early Access Trailer:

Parkasaurus is available for PC via Steam Early Access,