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Park Beyond lets you easily create gravity-defying roller coasters

Flex your creative muscle while building an impossibly fun theme park in Park Beyond.

Larryn Bell

May 12, 2023 1:05 PM

Bandai Namco

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Any good amusement park simulator offers a variety of ways for players to push the limits of their imagination and effortlessly express their creativity through park design. Part of what makes these games fun is being able to create ridiculous roller coasters and then experiencing your creations as a rider firsthand. Limbic Entertainment’s upcoming management sim Park Beyond aims to deliver on those expectations by offering players the ability to construct theme parks with gravity-defying roller coasters and bombastic rides using accessible editing tools. There is still plenty in Park Beyond for those who enjoy the management aspect of these games as well, including data charts and heat maps for cultivating a profitable park over time. Park Beyond is effectively Roller Coaster Tycoon with an explosive twist that should appeal to most players in the genre.

Through Impossification, anything is possible

Park Beyond gives players the tools to achieve the impossible with their park creations, quite literally. Through an upgrade method called Impossification, players can modify roller coasters to have explosive cannons, jump ramps, and other off-the-rails features. Impossification does not stop at roller coasters, either. Flat rides, food stands, and even park staff can be enhanced with peculiar upgrades that make for a park experience like no other.

The game sets the tone early by introducing its user-friendly roller coaster building mechanics during the first mission. You start out slow, building a single-track coaster that follows a paper plane to its target destination. Once you get the hang of the basics, you are given a chance to try a few Impossification upgrades, such as a cannon that launches your coaster’s cart across a vast distance. When finished, you can then test your creation for yourself from the perspective of a rider. 

Time flies when having fun

After giving players a taste of coaster construction, Park Beyond pivots its focus toward the management aspect of its genre. While teaming up with a quirky crew of characters, players are tasked with creating an amusement park that is as profitable as it is fun. After a brief conversation with stern CFO Izzy and zany park enthusiast Phil, you will choose the type of park you want to build and its target audience, be it teens, families, or adults. This choice impacts the types of rides, food stands, and attractions you can have as well. 

By the second mission, an assortment of systems are introduced for tracking and managing various aspects of your park, from visitor satisfaction to the profitability of individual rides. Heat Map Overlays are one way for players to highlight areas of the park that need attention and to respond accordingly. For example, a Heat Map filtered for Hunger will highlight the hungriest guests in red, indicating areas of the park where additional food stands might be beneficial. Even making small adjustments like reducing ride fares or entrance fees can dramatically sway guest opinions.

Curb Appeal

Amusement parks are nothing if not fun, a concept that Park Beyond applies throughout. The overall success of your park is determined by its Park Appeal rating, which is calculated based on the park’s Fun and Cleanliness ratings. The higher your Park Appeal, the more rides and contraptions you can unlock to improve upon your creations. 

Once the milestones in the first park have been achieved, new characters will join the development crew and players will be tasked with constructing yet another park, this time in a different setting that poses various terrain challenges. This is when the training wheels really come off, giving players the ability to push the limits of their creativity and bring impossible roller coasters to life. 

While the campaign offers plenty to scratch that tycoon itch, those looking to build a park without constraints can do so in Sandbox Mode. This mode allows players to experiment with the roller coaster editor and various modules for a fully customizable experience.

With its robust management tools and a user-friendly roller coaster editor, Park Beyond has what it takes to be the next hit park tycoon game. Players can prepare to break ground when the game releases for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox on June 15, 2023.

This preview is based on an early PC build provided by the publisher. Park Beyond is slated to come to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on June 16, 2023.

Larryn Bell

Contributing Editor

Larryn is a freelance contributor who creates video game guides and reviews for Shacknews and has more than a decade of experience covering games across various outlets. When she's not gaming, Larryn can often be found watering houseplants, playing D&D, or teaching her cats new tricks.