Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
Two Point Studios is finally prepared for the world to see its next game, this time taking the zaniness of the developer’s comedic business sim and strategy chops and applying it to museum management. Two Point Museum lets players curate a gallery of ancient art and historical discoveries, and then arrange those wondrous things in a way that will keep the visitors coming back and donating their hard-earned cash to your business. It just so happens we got to play a little bit of Two Point Museum, and it is shaping up into another fantastic title from the developer.
Two Point Museum takes the mechanics that Two Point Studios have been refining in their previous games and kicks it up a notch with some fun new theming. The point of the game is to take a rough or down-on-its-luck museum and build them up into an experience that delights all that enter, hopefully loosening their wallets in the process. Our session started with taking some exhibits we already had and building some nice infrastructure around them. We placed the exhibits carefully, put information signs by them, hired management to attend the exhibits and make sure they’re clean, and put donation stations by them along with décor to make them look cooler.
Once the foundation was set, we could start expanding our museum with more interesting things to keep folks visiting. To that end, you must take on missions that provide a bit of randomness to Two Point Museum. Throughout the game, you’ll unlock new mission sites that have different exhibit opportunities, but could also risk hurting your staff or slowing you down if you have bad luck. If your away team succeeds, they’ll bring back an exhibit that you can add to your museum gallery and build more attractions around. There are even multi-piece exhibits such as dinosaur skeletons that can be partially displayed and gain interest as you collect all the pieces to show off the full thing. Spend enough time on missions in a particular site and you’ll also unlock new sites where unseen discoveries await.
The fact that missions require a specific staff member to leave the museum for a few days means you’ll want to keep a few of these folks on staff to tend to on-site business while some of them engage in finding new things to display. That’s especially true considering the risk of mission failure that could leave your adventurous experts injured or worse.
There’s a lot of other museum essentials you’ll have to staff up for and build rooms to accommodate as well. You need assistants to run ticket booths and souvenir shops, security guards to maintain peace and empty the donation baskets, and custodians to clean up after your messy guests and empty the trash. Meanwhile, you’ll need an employee break room for them to unwind, restrooms for your staff and guests, and more while maintaining good spacing for new museum exhibits. Before long, you’ll have a bustling and busy business full of ancient wonders and foot traffic as visitors come to see.
Two Point Museum had its hooks into me minutes into play. It has the charm and silliness Two Point has been delivering for years, complete with returning wry radio personalities and pleasant music to accompany your museum’s ongoing events. It also has a great gimmick with missions that not only take your staff away from the business, but also have risk for their rewards. Those rewards end up being sparkly new things to show to your guests, which allows you to expand the business, keep the money rolling in, and unlock new mission for even more exciting exhibits. With the foundation set, Two Point Museum looks ready to make the collection and display of ancient history a delightful venture.
This preview is based on an early PC build offered by the publisher. Two Point Museum is set to release to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam, but has no release date just yet.