Two Point Museum is the next upcoming release from Two Point Studios, diving deep into the museum experience. The game brings the familiar Two Point charm with new mechanics that let you customise the visitor experience. Checkpoint sat down with Jo Koehler and Ben Huskins, Executive Producer and Design Director of Two Point Studios to talk about the game.
The first question was: why a museum? There are many different organisations that benefit from a simulation and the team settled on the museum experience. Ben mentioned the team having a list of ideas to work through after completing Two Point Campus and a museum was high on that list.
“It’s something that we can put our unique stamp on. There’s not really another museum management sim game out there and that really appealed to us. It felt like we could really run with this and apply our Two Point sense of humour to the game. Make the exhibits a mixture of some stuff you might expect to see in a real-world museum… but then put a bit of the Two Point twist on them, and then have the slightly larger-than-life things like supernatural spirits you are keeping in your museum.”
“We also really liked the idea of building up a collection of exhibits and having a different collection for other players. You don’t know exactly what you get from an expedition; the expedition system came about as an idea early on. That will add this real sense of adventure to the game. Discovery is kind of a theme that runs throughout the whole game, but also you discover a lot as you experiment with the layout of your exhibits and combine different exhibits.”
The preview build introduces three kinds of museums: a prehistoric museum, an Atlantean marine life exhibition, and a supernatural building. The latter two push the boundaries of a traditional museum experience. Were there any boundaries on defining what a museum would be or was the sky the limit? Jo answered that the real world has many types of museums, with something for everyone.
“We wanted to push boundaries of what we could do in the Two Point world. We didn’t want to box ourselves in with a traditional museum or a modern museum. [The locations] come together and it looks incredible. I personally love the kind of museums that have a variety and different types of exhibits. As Ben said, it’s about exploring the Two Point world and going further than we have before.”
Museums are a fascinating experience and there’s much to learn from them. But unlike a hospital or campus, not many people have been to a museum. What was the appeal of having a museum simulator when not as many players would be familiar with it? Ben replied that putting the Two Point spin on it was a big factor and the team are big fans of going to museums. Several museums in London also served as inspiration for some of the designs.
One great feature of Two Point Museum is that you can combine exhibits from other museums together. This means you can have a prehistoric museum with haunted house exhibits as an example. However, this also runs the risk of losing a museum’s identity because you fill up a museum with whatever exhibits you can find. Jo mentions that one appeal of the game is being able to create the museum of your dreams, however you want. “The demo barely scratches the surface of the game,” she said, and that was a recurring theme of the preview build.
The expedition mechanics are an exciting way to earn new exhibits because you never know what you are going to get. However, it can be chance-based as a result as the preview build has shown. The mechanics felt too much like a gacha game where you might waste time and money without being able to progress. Ben and Jo both talk about how the expedition mechanics are geared towards the player’s favour, helping them obtain all exhibits easily. However, I provided an example during an expedition where I obtained the same exhibit 10 times without change.
Ben and Jo discussed the mechanics in-depth, showing that while quality would be random, you should easily obtain every exhibit. They asked for an example which was provided after the interview for further investigation. Based on their early feedback, the weighting for finding each exhibit may not be properly balanced and they assured me they would take another look. It’s great to see the Two Point team take concerns seriously and address each point in great detail.
Two Point Museum is releasing for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on 4 March 2025.
About the Author
Victor Tan
He/Him
Victor spends his time trying to help players out of tricky situations and give them the guidance they need to succeed. Outside of the video game world, you can find him training at the gym or doing simple improv activities.
