Exotica 2: Pet Shop Simulator, developed by Konrul Game and published by Ultimate Publishing and Ultimate Games S.A., is available now on Steam HERE.
Exotica 2 Pet Shop Simulator does exactly what it says on the tin, you’re tasked with running a pet shop, available to sell is everything you would expect: animals, food accesories, toys, everything that they need to survive. It isn’t as easy as just selling them or looking at the animals; you’ll have to make sure every need is met, from cleanliness to getting the right food. Don’t forget to get that sneaky little stroke of the animals in!
To grow your business, you’ll need to manage many different aspects, this ranges from animal welfare, staffing and unlocking and ordering supplies. As you progress, more money will start flowing in, which earns XP towards levelling up. Once levelled up, you’ll earn points. Don’t make the same mistake I did and just unlock animals off the bat; you’ll need to invest points in the food items that go with the specific type of animal. These points are important in the business expansion so that you have access to more expensive and sought-after products. Soon, the customers will start buying big batches of your newly unlocked items, which makes way for more options down the line in the way you shape your pet shop. I started my pet shop journey small, dealing in a couple of species of fish and unlocking the food, breeding supplement, growth supplement and accessories. Once I unlocked enough different options, I expanded the business, and as of now, I have a fish section, a bird section and a rodent section. Now my business is bustling, and I own an array of adorable animals as well as having staff to take care of the more menial jobs, I can sit back, relax and watch puppies roam the shop freely. You’ll learn most of it yourself as you go, as the game doesn’t hold your hand.
I think if the developers took on board the community’s feedback, it could be one of the best simulator games out there, but there are problems. There is a tutorial; however, it’s very minimalistic. It teaches you the obvious things like building your place, buying the animals and food; however, the rest you have to find out yourself. I wanted to breed some of my fish due to the cost of buying the fish from a supplier, thinking this would save me money, but it doesn’t tell you how to prepare your animals for breeding. I had to go on Steam Community Hub to find out. The main issue here is that some of the systems feel a little janky. I ran into quite a few problems in my playthrough. Often, I’d be soft locked with an item in my hand, meaning I was unable to progress, so I’d have to reset the game. Othertimes, some strange bugs would happen; however, the game is being updated regularly, which means that the developers are working hard, so hopefully these issues will be fixed soon.
I think the developers got the animal design perfect, even if some of the animations are a little lacking, but with 70 animals and it being an indie game, you can look past that. The shop itself starts to take shape quite quickly, and it genuinely looks great, though sadly, the customers are that sort of generic-looking type we see in most sim games, but it doesn’t detract from the experience. It would have been nice to have them speak; at the moment, it’s just speech bubbles. The music is the typical music you get in these simulation games, not bad but not great. I didn’t run into any graphical issues myself on a 3080 TI or any slowdowns; it ran well, and cranking up the options to epic and having max customers didn’t affect it.
Verdict
Overall, Exotica 2: Pet Shop Simulator is a mixed bag. In one respect, I loved it; the array of things there is to do and take care of is fantastic. If the developers take their time to fix some of these issues, add a few things, and change a few details, I’ll stick to what I said that it could be one of the best simulator games out there. As of now, the game is receiving updates rapidly. I am looking forward to diving into more and seeing where the game heads. I do hope they keep working on it and perhaps add new content down the line.
nerdybirdgames.com 