Have you ever felt like you could have done a better job than the people who made Jurassic Park but don’t have the serious dedication to clone dinosaurs from DNA? Well, now you can prove it to all your friends in Parkasaur!
Parkasaurus has left Early Access on Steam and is ready for you to live out your dinosaur management dreams. Washbear Studio released Parkasaurus 1.0 on August 13, 2020. With over 1,000 overwhelmingly positive reviews already on Steam, you know this game was worth the wait.
The game greets you with a cartoony style that immediately makes it feel very welcoming. A letter explains that your job is to help make dinosaurs comfortable here on Earth. Because there’s no way this could possibly go wrong, you start building your dinosaur park to the specifications of each species.
Parkasaurus offers a great tutorial which walks you through every important aspect of the game without dallying. You are taught how to care for the dinosaurs, build proper exhibits, hire staff and even go on expeditions to expand your dino-repertoire.
Two game modes really make Parkasaurus enjoyable to all play styles. World Map offers a variety of park scenario campaigns, and Customize is a sandbox mode for when you just want to make a gorgeous park. Being as I generally play sandbox in these games, I chose to go the scenario route and help an abandoned dinosaur park. Going this route gave me a story to build towards and made the world feel very rich.
There is a lot to do in Parkasaurus, and a lot to manage. You must maintain visitor happiness in order to gain Hearts to expand upon the items you put into your exhibits. This unlocks packs of items, more security, plants/trees, advanced food and more.
Your scientists are also very important — so hire wisely! Gaining Science points unlocks new food stands, staff learning and some great park decor. Adding dinosaurs to your park is done via the Time Travelling Exploration system, then using a store to get your eggs. The game does not simply let you adopt dinosaurs (aside the ones already in the park), and I loved that it was something to work towards.
Each dinosaur species has their own likes and dislikes according to biome, privacy, food and enrichment. At the start of the game you are severely lacking in the enrichment department, however as you gain points you unlock those.
The biome system is a little confusing while you’re building your exhibits. Unlike some other management games like Planet Zoo, you have to make terrain mimic the biome instead of placing the tiles that make the terrain what it is. To flatten terrain you will need to first get rid of all the trees before the game will allow you to flatten the ground. While this makes sense logically, I’d like to see everything flatten in a more cohesive tool.
With so many different ways to play and items to unlock, there is never a lack of anything to do in Parkasaurus. Each “day” you collect donations and can buy more items for your zoo and expand. The park sizes feel natural and are not overwhelming, and once you get a hang of the biome system it is a lot easier. My favorite part of building exhibits is that the dinosaurs tell you right away what they do and do not like, making building a lot less tedious.
As far as management games go, Parkasaurus is a very fun game that I can’t wait to dive back into. The park days don’t feel like they go by too quickly and I get a lot done in each category every day. The only two things I would like to see in the game would be Ctrl+Z support (PLEASE) and a better tutorial on how to build biomes.
Parkasaurus is now available on Steam.
