Image credit: Boxelware

Waterparks have always felt like quite a strange concept to me in that the UK is small enough that you can just take a quick train ride and be at a beach within an hour or so, give or take. We do have them here, I've just had no reason to go one, and also the idea of having to be rescued from the inside of a slide due to getting stuck for one reason or another is a (I think rational) fear I've had since discovering them. Therefore, I'll take a pass on actually visiting one, but I won't say no to building my own in Aquapark Tycoon, a waterpark sim game that's out in early access today.

Now, obviously the whole thing here is that you're building waterparks of various shapes and sizes, fairly standard for this type of sim/management game. What looks quite appealing about it is how granular you can get with it. You don't just plonk down prefab slides and call it a day, you can actually choose each individual pipe section, which direction it's heading in, what angle it sits at, as well as add in fancy sections like those bowls you sort of slide around in like a sink draining water.

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It goes further than this too, as there are also pools to be built, which you can shape however you like, and are free to add any bits of decoration you think might be fun. This applies to saunas too, something I never thought would be at a waterpark, but I suppose grouchy adults who don't want to be near their kids having a fun time exist too. On top of all of this there's co-op, so you can play with your pals in designing the waterpark.

You do have to consider how you manage the park itself too, tasked with keeping an eye on the needs and wants of your guests a la Roller Coaster Tycoon. Plus there's bits like hiring staff to keep the park running and clean too. Looks fairly involved! And if you aren't ready to try out its early access release, there is a demo on Steam for you to have a play around with too.