Aquatico

Not sure why everyone is so negative about this where the only real issue is that the game is just too short once you've got everything done this really isnt anything else to do it kinda just runs stale. Would be nice for some addons and perhaps adventures but otherwise its a great little game.

This is one of those games you wish you could give a thumbs "neutral". It's not bad. In fact on paper it has everything a city builder should. There are a handful of annoying mechanics like how the upkeep of your produced resources takes into accont what you spent that month on research, buildings, and building upgrades. More than that, though, my biggest complaints with this game are more abstract and have less to do with the mechanics themselves, and more to do with how they come together with the overall design to produce an engaging experience (they fall short in this regard). There isn't much motivating the player at any interval. In the short term, things like production shortages are obfuscated by bad mechanics, which makes these short term obstacles moot. You don't really know when you need more of something unless it's one of the resources run through pipelines. That was fun to balance, but sadly other resources don't get similar treatment and so you are left without much to manage in the short term, which leaves you gazing at medium and long term objectives that leave much to be desired.
Sure, there's plenty of resources and production chains to manage in the middle of the game, but why? What benefit do I get from managing them? This question is ubiquitous throughout the experience. For example, this game has temperature mechanics, which presents a survival mechanic, as does another well known city builder, "frostpunk". Yet the treatment here is very different. You don't know when temperature changes are coming. They aren't broadcast in any meaningful way before or during. They're just "there". You don't know how long they'll last. You see the snowflake icons, and upgrade the insulation of your houses and then move on as quickly as you noticed the problem. Though there is a temperature mechanic, it might as well not be there. It doesn't add very much at all to the player experience. This really gets to the heart of the problem. The game doesn't tell you about what to expect if you keep playing, but even if it did, I suspect it would not do so in a creative and fun way. Instead it'd be more likely that the player would miss these cues altogether because of how forgettable they are. Why do I want to expand into ever increasing production chains and expand across the ocean floor? There is no sense of purpose here.
Sure in the story there is a thematic reason for all this, but this is a videogame. I need something more than an impassionate voice telling me to keep going because I am contributing to this thing I have no direct experience with. Again, this story might as well not exist because the player doesn't interact with it in a meaningful way beyond completing the game's production chains. Give me a way to lose and maybe give me multiple paths to victory, if you'd be so bold. At least give me multiple ways to lose. As the player, if anything of the sort existed in the game, you'd never know it, and that's really the problem here. This all may sound really bad and you may wonder why I'd give it a thumbs up. It's because this game has much of what it needs to be a good game on paper, it just fails to come together in the end. I can't knock it too hard for that, it's still worth $8 on sale. The critical commentary owes moreso to the fact that it is an example of wasted potential. When you boot up Aquatico, you have every reason to get excited in anticipation of what is to come. It presents itself as the total package. Unfortunately, though the game may be as deep as the abyss which surrounds your colony, your adventure never feels as though it never hoes beyond the shallow reefs. 5/10

I'm giving it a "Yes" because it's a game and it works, but with the condition that you really have to like city builders to see this game through to the end. This game does not have staying power / replay-ability, which you can infer from negative reviews (they're not lying).
I'm not a city builder fan but had the urge to try one and was jumping between Skylines, various Anno titles, and decided on this. I didn't finish this game; I made it half-way through the Atlantis project and decided to watch a YouTube for the ending and I'm glad I did, because the ending certainly wasn't worth another 12 hours of play.
The biggest flaw is that you've almost researched everything by mid-game and have seen all it has to offer. Yes, there were things left in my research tree to unlock, but they were just iterations of previous technologies that add burden to your colony instead of aid. Every time you unlock and build something, it's just to fulfill another material demand that requires you to build more of the same in an ever-increasing tree of math without any progression payoff. In survival games you deal with tedium until you unlock advanced stuff that makes your life easier and transitions more of your time spent on manually collecting to exploring / fighting. In action games, you find new gear or unlock new abilities / gear that make the game more fun. Frostpunk you unlock robots to automate areas that are far from base which helps with resources and reduces the amount time micro-managing sick people. In this game, it's your people want tier 1 resources, now they want tier 2, now they want tier 3 and you're going to provide them all the same exact way you did at the start of the game with tier 1.
Everything worked except one bug when I joined two bases together and I would have low power when the UI stated I had a surplus anywhere from 0 to 400 (I probably had a surplus of around 400 when I joined them).

Great undersea city builder. Very atmospheric, nice graphics!

Late game pacing feels a bit off, but it didn't really detract from the enjoyment.

Dive Into a Subaquatic City-Building Adventure!
Aquatico is a refreshing plunge into the depths of underwater city-building, and it’s a perfect catch for anyone who loves aquatic adventures and construction games. Imagine building a thriving colony on the ocean floor, complete with all the challenges and wonders of life beneath the waves. From creating elaborate underwater structures to managing resources in a truly unique setting, this game offers a mesmerizing experience that’s anything but ordinary.
As a fan of both underwater worlds and city builders, Aquatico is a dream come true. The game’s immersive aquatic atmosphere provides a fresh and exciting twist on the genre. You'll find yourself completely absorbed as you design and develop your underwater colony, all while navigating the various hurdles of oceanic life. It's like getting to be a part of your own marine utopia—minus the need for a scuba suit!
Whether you’re a water enthusiast or just looking for a new and captivating city-building challenge, Aquatico delivers an engaging and visually stunning experience. Dive in, start building, and watch your underwater metropolis flourish in the mysterious and beautiful depths of the sea.
Generated with AI and <3

while i do like the game and it is very interesting i do feel this would benefit from mod support