Aquarist

About

"Aquarist is a single-player Simulation game with pretty visuals, offering a relaxing sandbox experience in underwater aquarium management. Create and maintain habitats for diverse marine life, from fish and sea turtles to sharks and octopuses, while learning about these fascinating creatures. Be aware, however, that some grinding is involved to truly enjoy this game."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

+14

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 968 reviews

gameplay30 positive mentions

grinding50 negative mentions

The game offers a beautiful concept and stunning visuals, making it enjoyable to create and manage aquariums.
It provides a relaxing experience with a solid progression system, allowing players to unlock new fish, decorations, and environments.
The regular updates and DLCs show that the developers are committed to improving the game and engaging with the community.

The game is plagued with bugs and glitches, which can hinder gameplay and lead to frustrating experiences.
The controls and item placement mechanics are clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult to design aquariums as desired.
The time constraints during gameplay can feel overwhelming, limiting the ability to fully enjoy the creative aspects of building aquariums.

gameplay
134 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
66%
12%
The gameplay in "Aquarist" is characterized by a mix of engaging aquarium management tasks, such as fish selection, feeding, and tank cleaning, but it suffers from repetitive mechanics and some clunky controls. While the game offers a visually appealing experience and a relaxing atmosphere, players have noted issues with the user interface, tedious tasks, and limited creativity in tank design. Overall, the game is enjoyable for those who appreciate simulation games, but it could benefit from improvements in mechanics and additional content.
- “I like how realistic it is and how much gameplay there is.”
- “There were so many different gameplay modes that it stayed fun and interesting to the end.”
- “Great game, relaxing with calming gameplay.”
- “The gameplay itself is fine if you manage to avoid the bugs, but by the time I got it working right and stopped getting trapped in rooms or stuck with soil in my hands that I couldn't put down, I had lost interest.”
- “One thing to note about this game is the gameplay can be what most would consider to be very tedious.”
- “There are a few gameplay issues; the game suffers a bit from poor menu layouts (comparing fish is a headache as it's basically just two big lists), bad object selection (trying to select a stickleback in a tank full of other fish, plants, and rocks is almost impossible), and tries to put a bit too much busywork into your routine.”
story
130 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
75%
2%
The game's story mode offers a straightforward narrative that guides players through the basics of aquarium management, featuring a mix of main quests and side missions that add depth and creativity. While many players appreciate the engaging storyline and the satisfaction of completing quests, some find the pacing tedious and the mechanics frustrating, particularly with bugs and mission design. Overall, the story provides a solid foundation for gameplay, though it may feel limited and repetitive at times.
- “The story mode is also fun, although it does go off a timer when you're opening your shop.”
- “I love the introduction in the story as it really helps walk you through some of the basics of the game, and it's really helpful to start small and move up.”
- “The few quests the game offers are really well done and probably my highlight for Aquarist.”
- “The only downside is the limited amount of content and the game is too short (you can get through the entire story mode in less than 10 hours).”
- “There's no real story in here beyond the odd startup in the tutorial (your father gets you into the hobby and gives you your first basement/garage shop?) and the goal of making better aquariums.”
- “The inventory system gets frustrating very quickly and the dialog for the story needs a lot of TLC.”
graphics
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
47%
13%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the stunning visuals and detailed fish and aquariums, while others criticize the overall graphical quality and optimization issues. Some players find the graphics to be beautiful and immersive, particularly for an aquarium simulator, but note that there are significant bugs and inconsistencies that detract from the experience. Overall, while the game showcases impressive aquatic visuals, it suffers from various graphical and UI problems that may hinder enjoyment for some players.
- “Stunning visuals - this is a nicely detailed game without compromising fps (I've been playing at 60fps).”
- “The graphics are fantastic, the fish and corals are extremely detailed and beautiful.”
- “I am in awe over the stunning graphics that this game has to offer.”
- “Terrible graphics, poor localization, and generally awful graphics (except for the actual fish and aquariums themselves) plague a vast majority of the game, as well as an agonizingly slow pacing that makes reaching farther into the game a complete slog.”
- “The graphics are mediocre to say the least... the water texture is good and yes, the fish look and move pretty realistically, but everything outside of the tank is subpar.”
- “This game contains a lot of graphical and UI bugs, clipping objects, and bad collisions, which lead to exploiting the game to make it less boring (e.g., flying mode in almost a straight line to nourish the sharks).”
grinding
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding aspect of the game is frequently described as tedious and repetitive, with players noting that many tasks, such as maintaining aquariums and completing chores, can feel laborious and detract from the overall enjoyment. While some find the intimate simulation rewarding and appreciate the variety of activities, the overwhelming number of mundane tasks often leads to frustration and a sense of limited freedom. Overall, the game struggles to balance engaging gameplay with the grindy nature of its mechanics.
- “While the overarching build of the aquarist should be fun and enjoyable, it is unfortunately bogged down with tediousness - simulator games like this must ride a very fine balance, and unfortunately, this one misses the mark.”
- “The tasks are super tedious and boring (why does this game need me to walk between a sink on one floor and an aquarium on a different floor several times to fill the tank? I just want to start decorating).”
- “Because of all the tediousness, the short days, the endless tasks you need to achieve each day, and the very limited options, it doesn't really feel like you get a lot of freedom.”
music
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
39%
11%
The music in the game is widely praised for its calming and relaxing qualities, with many users highlighting the smooth jazz soundtrack that enhances the overall atmosphere. Players appreciate the chill vibe it brings, making it perfect for casual gameplay, though some express a desire for more accessibility to the music, such as an in-game jukebox. Overall, the soundtrack contributes positively to the game's enjoyable and laid-back experience.
- “I absolutely love the background music; it's very nice smooth relaxing jazz music.”
- “This is an amazing game and it's perfect to just zone out to with music in the background.”
- “Pass the time, relax to great music and wonderful aquascapes that you create and take care of.”
- “Some minor problems are things like overly loud sounds (especially the bucket), tedious mechanics (removing each fish one by one) and the music.”
- “Holy shit the music.”
- “I really would like an in-game jukebox or the ability to hear music anytime and not just the tracks that were in the job quests, which is the only place you can hear some tracks of the music.”
stability
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous players reporting persistent bugs, glitches, and crashes, especially given its age of 2-3 years. Issues such as freezing when exiting buildings, losing save data, and getting stuck in editor mode detract from the overall experience. While some players still find enjoyment in the game, the overwhelming feedback highlights a need for substantial improvements in stability.
- “For a game that is 2-3 years old, there should not be so many glitches and bugs.”
- “I don't typically complain about bugs because they do happen, but this is just too glitchy and buggy, and there are really no excuses for that given the age of the game vs. the amount of issues it has.”
- “I wanted to love this game and the graphics are super pretty, but it's such a buggy, broken game.”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by its funny dialogue, a goofy storyline, and the slightly terrifying family members, which adds a comedic touch. Players find the unrealistic aspects of aquarium management amusing, particularly the ability to mix various fish species in a tank, which serves as both a source of humor and a lighthearted lesson on aquarium care. Overall, the game is described as nice and funny, with a relaxing vibe enhanced by jazzy background music.
- “The family members in the game are slightly terrifying, which is funny lol!”
- “There's even a goofy storyline that was very relaxing and funny.”
- “The realism is a little off with needs, etc. You can only put so many of one type of fish in a tank, which is good, but you can then put as many species of different fish in one tank as long as the other conditions are right for them, which is kinda hilarious. It teaches some things you should never do when setting up an aquarium, but that's a small gripe; this isn't meant to be megaquarium.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
50%
17%
The game's optimization has seen improvements, particularly with the addition of new levels, fish, and backgrounds, which enhance the overall experience. However, issues remain with tool usage, especially the hammer, and performance can suffer due to overbreeding in larger tanks. Overall, players find the game relaxing and enjoyable despite these optimization challenges.
- “They have come back and added levels, fish, backgrounds, and optimized the effects, and oh man, really relaxing fun game.”
- “Optimization of tools and their use could be good, especially the hammer.”
- “With bigger tanks, they wind up overbreeding to the point of a performance hit.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive sound design, which effectively captures the underwater environment and creates a relaxing experience reminiscent of ASMR. The soothing sounds of water and bubbles, along with decent background music, contribute significantly to the overall tranquil ambiance.
- “The sound design effectively captures the underwater atmosphere, enhancing players' experience.”
- “They are so relaxing and almost give you an ASMR effect with the water, bubbles, and atmospheric sounds.”
- “The music was okay as well, and it did add to the game's relaxing atmosphere.”
emotional
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a strong emotional connection to the game, particularly in the joy of creating tanks, which enhances their overall experience. However, some frustration arises from limitations in decoration placement, which can detract from the enjoyment but ultimately encourages a focus on new creations.
- “I genuinely enjoyed creating my tanks, and the last tanks of the game really made me feel good about my experience.”
- “Which made me feel bad, yeah, but it allowed me to focus on the new tank.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game has received negative feedback due to excessive advertising for other games from the developer, which many users found intrusive and distracting. Additionally, the presence of subtle ads and poor language quality further detracted from the overall experience.
- “The game is so chock-full of advertising for other games.”
- “On the bad side, the language is quite deficient with many grammar mistakes, and I disliked all those subtle ads for other games from the developer.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Players find the game highly replayable due to the ability to customize tanks by selling items and experimenting with different combinations of decorations, plants, and fish. This flexibility encourages multiple playthroughs, even after completing the main content.
- “I could finish the content in another 6 hours or so, but there is a lot of replayability in that you can sell off tanks or items in them and completely change what is in there, trying new combinations of decorations, plants, and fish.”
- “I could finish the content in another 6 hours or so probably, but there is a lot of replayability in that you can sell off tanks or items in them and completely change what is in there, trying new combinations of decorations, plants, and fish.”

Buy Aquarist

Aquarist
$15.99
See offer on Steam

9h Median play time

13h Average play time

3-26h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 10 analyzed playthroughs

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