Megaquarium

87%
Game Brain Score Based on 4,109 reviews
  • gameplay
  • graphics
  • music
Megaquarium Game Cover
A charming management game that's designed entirely for your convenience. Very easy to learn, with enough complexity to keep you entertained for hours.
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Megaquarium is a single-player business strategy game with an aquatic twist, offering a beautiful gameplay experience through exceptional visuals and a wonderful soundtrack. Design and manage your own aquarium, choosing from nearly 100 different marine species, and hire staff based on their skills to help you grow and thrive. Despite some bugs and a grindy aspect, the game boasts an intriguing storyline and plenty of humor to keep players engaged.

  • Mac OS
  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Linux
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

87%
Audience ScoreBased on 4,109 reviews
gameplay179 positive mentions
grinding42 negative mentions
  • Fun and challenging gameplay with different requirements for various sea creatures.
  • Cute and pleasant graphics that are easy on the eyes.
  • One of the best career modes in a management game, with engaging DLC that feels like full expansions.
  • Lack of clear explanations for some game mechanics, leading to confusion.
  • The career modes of the DLCs do not integrate well with each other, limiting player options.
  • AI issues with staff and guests can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences.
  • gameplay538 mentions

    The gameplay of Megaquarium is characterized by its intuitive mechanics and a well-paced campaign that gradually introduces players to various challenges and features, making it accessible yet engaging. Players appreciate the balance between simplicity and depth, allowing for both casual play and strategic planning, particularly with the addition of DLCs that introduce new mechanics and content. While some users note minor issues with the UI and building mechanics, the overall experience is described as relaxing and enjoyable, appealing to fans of aquarium management and simulation games.

    • “The mechanics are straightforward yet have enough complexity to make the game challenging.”
    • “The gameplay is well thought out and very enjoyable.”
    • “The campaign levels do a great job of actually teaching you the game and slowly introducing you to more and more mechanics without necessarily feeling like it's holding your hand through it.”
    • “The lack of depth in the gameplay and underwhelming presentation make Megaquarium a game that is hard to recommend.”
    • “Some mechanics are not well explained (prestige, argh!) and the UI can be clunky to use.”
    • “The not so good: hands down, the most frustrating part of this game is the poor building mechanic.”
  • graphics444 mentions

    The graphics of the game are generally described as cute and colorful, with a charming, simplistic art style that appeals to many players. While some reviewers note that the visuals are basic and not as impressive as those found in similar management games like Planet Zoo, the overall aesthetic is considered pleasant and relaxing, enhancing the gameplay experience. Despite the lack of high-end graphics, the game successfully captures the essence of aquarium management, making it enjoyable for players who appreciate its nostalgic and casual design.

    • “The graphics are stunning and the gameplay is so addicting.”
    • “With its intuitive mechanics and charming visuals, it’s easy to get lost in creating the perfect aquarium.”
    • “The graphics in Megaquarium are so vibrant that I'm pretty sure my monitor has become a portal to a tropical paradise.”
    • “The graphics are very basic, which is a pity since a lot of the most compelling aspects of sealife and aquariums are the visuals.”
    • “This didn't really scratch the itch for a game somewhat akin to Planet Zoo, but featuring fully aquatic species, primarily because of the very basic graphics and limited customizability.”
    • “The graphics are something to work with whenever you do things such as zoom in; it gets extremely apparent how stuffy the game feels, thanks to the graphics, it feels soulless.”
  • music241 mentions

    The music in the game is generally described as pleasant and fitting, contributing to a relaxing atmosphere, but it suffers from repetitiveness, with many players expressing a desire for more variety and longer tracks. While some find the soundtrack catchy and enjoyable, others have opted to mute it or play their own music after extended playtime due to its limited selection. Overall, the soundtrack enhances the gameplay experience, but an expansion of the music library would significantly improve it.

    • “Musically, this game has a pleasant soundtrack that doesn't get old, and the ambience of a working aquarium is also a nice fit.”
    • “This is why Megaquarium is such a relaxing experience; you are never rushed, you're listening to nice music and watching pretty fish and graphics, all while you work out your puzzle and slowly expand your aquarium.”
    • “The soundtrack is fantastic and the gameplay is just fun.”
    • “There is only one music track and it gets very repetitive.”
    • “The music is terribly repetitive, it gets me crazy, I would love to see a few more tracks added to increase diversity.”
    • “The only gripe I have is that the soundtrack drives me mental.”
  • story220 mentions

    The game's story mode consists of a series of well-designed missions that introduce players to its mechanics, offering a satisfying progression through various aquarium-building challenges. While the narrative is not particularly deep, players appreciate the structured gameplay and the balance between objectives and rewards, with many expressing a desire for more missions and content. Overall, the campaign serves as an effective tutorial and engaging experience, complemented by a sandbox mode for further creativity.

    • “The campaign/story is really fun to progress through as you never know what new aquatic life or management features will be unlocked.”
    • “The story mode is very well balanced between how much work you need to put into completing each objective and how much reward (money, prestige, research points, etc.) you get.”
    • “Even though I don't enjoy campaigns that often in sim games, the one in Megaquarium was really well done, and you always feel like you are progressing in between the different missions.”
    • “Not much of a story though.”
    • “I wish it was more of a progressive storyline kind of game.”
    • “The story missions are not too difficult to achieve (so far--I'm at level 5 right now) and it can feel like it takes too long to just wait out the scenario's win conditions.”
  • optimization72 mentions

    The game's optimization has received mixed feedback, with many players noting that while it runs smoothly on high-end systems, performance issues persist, especially in larger aquariums and on lower-end hardware. Some users have reported significant drops in frame rates and increased resource consumption, particularly on specific devices like the M1 MacBook Pro. Despite ongoing updates from the developer aimed at improving performance, long-standing optimization concerns remain a point of frustration for many players.

    • “The dev has put a lot of effort into polish and with the performance updates, the game runs incredibly well even up through very large aquariums.”
    • “The management is intuitive and straightforward, and the game has helpful panels that guide you in making sure things run smoothly.”
    • “I get to learn about fish I'd never heard of before, spend time relaxing and watching them swim around, and solve interesting constraint problems and optimization challenges to decide how to arrange tanks.”
    • “For a game that is three years post-release (with active updating), having these performance issues, reported years ago, still remain to this day is unacceptable.”
    • “I've played a good number of games from all sorts of devs, studios, and foss/open-source communities, and in all my almost two decades of PC gaming, I have never seen a game this horribly optimized.”
    • “The huge levels like both finales become very stuttery and laggy even on a 9900k overclocked to 5.2GHz on all cores, so there are definitely some optimization issues.”
  • replayability58 mentions

    Overall, the game exhibits high replayability, particularly enhanced by a vibrant modding community and additional DLCs that introduce new content and complexity. While some players find the base game lacking in replay value after completing the campaign, many appreciate the endless possibilities offered by mods and sandbox modes. The game's engaging mechanics and varied difficulty levels contribute to its addictive nature, making it enjoyable for repeated playthroughs.

    • “The vanilla selection of animals and scenery is great, but again, the workshop adds near infinite replayability.”
    • “Speaking of replayability, the DLCs add a bunch of content as well as extra layers to the complexity of the game.”
    • “Plus, the wonderful mods made by the community and the sandbox mode give Megaquarium endless replay value.”
    • “I liked this game initially, but it has zero replay value when my big facility is filled with hundreds of the same fish... boring.”
    • “Only downside is once you beat the campaign there isn't a ton of replayability.”
    • “It's good for what it is, but it has no replayability and a lackluster free mode.”
  • grinding48 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game is described as a mixed experience; while some players find it engaging and manageable, others feel it becomes tedious, especially in the later stages. Many reviews highlight that the gameplay loop of unlocking and building can lead to repetitive tasks, particularly with limited decoration options and the challenge of matching fish types. Overall, the grind is seen as a common feature in tycoon games, with some players enjoying it while others find it overwhelming or frustrating.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “The game can feel a bit grindy when you're waiting for money, prestiging, and unlocking certain fish/machinery.”
    • “Extremely tedious to match up different types of fish for each tank.”
    • “The biggest fault, in my opinion, is that the end game can get a little tedious as you simply watch your prestige points slowly pile up.”
  • stability35 mentions

    The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting random freezes and glitches, particularly during key moments like starting a new day or when guests enter the aquarium. While some users have experienced minimal issues and found the game enjoyable, others have noted significant bugs that hinder gameplay, especially on certain platforms like Mac. Overall, while there are reports of minor glitches and a clumsy user interface, the game is considered fun and engaging, albeit in need of further polish and stability improvements.

    • “This might be the best bug-free game on Steam.”
    • “Runs great on Linux (Mint 18.2, NVIDIA proprietary).”
    • “Sure, there is a lot that does need to be improved, but so far, I have encountered no glitches, and the game's progression is nicely paced between the levels that I've played.”
    • “I love this game but it's impossible to play properly due to the glitches.”
    • “On top of this, mods or no mods, the game experiences random freezes especially during the start of a new day or when guests enter the aquarium.”
    • “The zoning of staff still seems quite buggy and zones would flash and disappear when I tried to reselect the zones.”
  • humor26 mentions

    The humor in Megaquarium is generally well-received, with players finding it entertaining and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, particularly in quest texts and unexpected fish behaviors. While some users appreciate the game's charm and lightheartedness, others suggest that additional humor, such as random funny events or more personality in characters, could enhance the experience further. Overall, the game strikes a balance between amusing moments and engaging gameplay, making it a fun choice for casual play.

    • “In conclusion, Megaquarium is a hilarious and entertaining game that lets you become the ultimate fishy overlord.”
    • “One of the quest texts made me laugh out loud.”
    • “As it stands, it's kind of funny, keeps the difficulty down to a simple level, and does not detract from this game's charm.”
  • emotional16 mentions

    Players report a profound emotional connection to the game, often experiencing deep sadness when their virtual pets die, reminiscent of real-life losses. The game's design fosters attachment and nostalgia, evoking feelings similar to those from childhood experiences with earlier simulation games. Overall, it is praised for its ability to create an emotional journey, making it a highly recommended choice for fans of management games and aquatic life.

    • “When fish die under my care, I feel great sadness and it hurts me on an emotional level to the point where I have had to take a break from the game after losing my cherished hermit crab, Reginald.”
    • “In conclusion, this game has made me feel emotions that only the death of my childhood cat has, and I doubt I would find that kind of gut-wrenching pain anywhere else at such an affordable cost.”
    • “I would highly recommend this game to anyone who likes fish and wants to go on an emotional journey with them!”
  • atmosphere14 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its serene and whimsical qualities, providing a soothing escape from daily life. Players appreciate the absorbing visuals and the nostalgic feel reminiscent of titles like Zoo Tycoon 2, although some note that technical limitations can slightly detract from the overall experience. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature that enhances the enjoyment of the game.

    • “The game has a lovely and absorbing atmosphere, which helps the hours pass by.”
    • “Summary: wonderful game with lots of content, and a soothing atmosphere.”
    • “It doesn't detract from the gameplay, but detracts from the atmosphere of the game.”
    • “Although it is really hard to lose in this game (it could ruin some games), the serene atmosphere is truly remarkable, offering a much-needed respite from the daily hustle and bustle.”
    • “I was a big-time fan of Zoo Tycoon 2, and while this is obviously not quite the same, it successfully captures much of the atmosphere of that game.”
  • monetization6 mentions

    Reviews indicate a negative perception of the game's monetization strategy, with microtransactions being compared to low-quality stock music and advertisements. Some users express openness to alternative monetization methods, such as ads or charity events, suggesting a desire for more meaningful or community-oriented approaches.

    • “Microtransactions!?”
    • “I would not mind if an implementation of running ads or charity events could occur.”
    • “Makes me think of the stock music from iMovie, or from some cheap local access advertisement.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

78% average critic score

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Play time

35hMedian play time
47hAverage play time
25-84hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 34 analyzed playthroughs

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