Two Point Museum review | PC

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In the future volumes of gaming history, the delightful Two Point Hospital will no doubt go down as one of the greatest spiritual successors in gaming history.

​A few years later, the Two Point Studios team proved they aren’t just a one-hit wonder with a successful spin-off Two Point Campus, that saw you taking charge of an inspiring university instead of a chaotic hospital.

by James Michael Parry

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​@james_parry

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Developer: Two Point Studios
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Linux, Mac
Players: 1

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Now, they’re at it again with Two Point Museum, challenging you to make the most inviting and exciting journey through years gone by as the new museum curator.

Those familiar with the series will feel right at home, since the visual style and user interface carry across from the other titles, and even if you aren’t, the game is very warm and supportive in getting you up to speed.

Your first challenge is to get some exhibits, which involves setting up expeditions to far-flung regions across the world. These meta-game-like elements lend a unique challenge for this game in particular, since you can set up your team for success with staff training, items, and deciding to do a more detailed or careful survey.

Occasionally, the survey team will run into trouble and you’ll be greeted with a dilemma, forcing you to make a decision which affects the outcome of the trip. You can give yourself more options by taking team members with different skills, but ultimately you have to put their safety on the line in search of these treasures.

Of course, there’s always an element of chance, and so your explorers may come back with an injury or two, but fortunately there’s a handy all-in-one healing item for the staff room that can nurse them back to health – no need to send them to a nearby Two Point Hospital.

Building your museum is largely the same challenge as building a hospital or campus, a careful balancing act between keeping guests, staff, and the bank manager happy, while bringing depth and variety to the experiences.

It’s not enough to have cool exhibits, they need to be properly preserved and maintained, which, in some cases, will involve keeping them frozen in the huge blocks of ice they’re discovered in, as well as decorated and organised in a way which gives the museum a natural flow.

Two Point Museum has that great quality of being easy to try and difficult to master, and you can definitely play it at your own pace – literally in the sense that you can speed, slow, or even stop the passage of time...

Those who remember the 90s classic Lemmings might appreciate some of the micro-management you can get into here, since you can add one-way doors to construct a journey through the museum from beginning to end, and create designated zones, which also helps with keeping things staffed properly, as you can make sure they stick to a specific zone as well, as needed.

Digging into the finances of museum management does paint a stark, albeit realistic, picture of the state of these amusements in 2025, since you’ll earn far more cash from the gift shop, drinks machines, and even the donation stations than you will from ticket prices.

It would be easy to get drawn into a cynical mindset about how to create the perfect museum, were it not for the myriad of other aspects of the game keeping you guessing and pushing you to make the experience better and better for visitors.

One new challenge which you’ll encounter fairly early on is that families start bringing their children to the museum. While information boards are fine for imparting knowledge to adults – a measure which can dictate how highly they rate and review the experience when they leave – this isn’t the case for kids.

Since they are easily bored, you need to create interactive areas to keep them occupied, and later more and more specific needs and requests start to add up, as each individual visitor has a dream visit, and these become increasingly possible to grant as more options become available.

The staff keeping things run smoothly are a very multi-talented bunch, with most roles having a job in the museum and something to do out on expeditions as well. If you aren’t careful, you’ll quickly find yourself short-staffed if you send off a large expedition, leaving ticket booths unmanned and bins piling up with rubbish.

This comes back to the balancing act of the game and constantly has you asking somewhat non sequitur questions like “Do I need to build that interactive dinosaur or is a gift shop more important?” or “Does this assistant need training in customer service or flying a helicopter?”

As you progress through the game the safe and familiar Night at the Museum-esque setting gives way to more unusual locations, such as supernaturally-stricken mansions or industrial complexes, which open up different specialisms and bring their own unique challenges.

While at first the game feels like just more of what we love about management sims, the depth and variety really start to ramp up to 11 as you get into the meat of the game.

There’s plenty to put your stamp on in terms of customisation of your museum as well. While there are plenty of functional decorative items, which you will no doubt start to find your preferred options to splash around exhibits, there are also options to change walls or floors, and an opportunity for real creativity in how you make the space your own.

The atmosphere in general is already great fun, with the series sense of humour and cheerful soundtrack back in full effect this time as well. While some might be tempted to get stuck in on ground level to some of the challenges, for us the beauty of this type of game is that you have that overseeing presence, which lets you spot when guests are getting caught in one area and you need to shift an exhibit or knock down a wall.

Two Point Museum has that great quality of being easy to try and difficult to master, and you can definitely play it at your own pace – literally in the sense that you can speed, slow, or even stop the passage of time.

It would be easy to get overwhelmed as a player, or feel like the team are just throwing every idea they have at this game, but it’s clear that after three games and various expansions, these talented folks have struck a balance which takes you to places you don’t expect and brings rewards that keep you wanting to play just a little bit longer.

So grab your explorer’s hat and give it a go, who knows, maybe you’ll build something worthy of being preserved for years to come – or maybe it will just get overrun by defrosted bees and impatient children.

Pros

• A new take on a tried-and-tested formula
• Expeditions bring a fresh twist to getting new old things to display
• Kids bring a different way of thinking and up the stakes

Cons

• Hand holding early on can feel a little limiting
• Repetition can creep in, but only if you don’t push yourself
• The controls and navigation can be fiddly

8/10