Indie publisher Kitfox Games has all kinds of exciting projects on the horizon, including the graphical release of Dwarf Fortress and Boyfriend Dungeon. Here's another one to add to the pile, shown off today in the Wholesome Games Directlivestream—Mondo Museum, a museum management sim that gives off some strong Sims vibes despite being a smaller indie project.
2018's great Two Point Hospital and last year's Planet Zoo have seemingly helped revitalize this sort of focused PC sim. Offices, museums, gas stations—pretty soon we're going to be able to manage them all. The short trailer for Mondo Museum gave a quick sense of the game's progression. You start with nothing but an empty patch of land, and tools that let you design the shape, style and layout of the museum from scratch. The tools look pretty granular, down to how exhibits are displayed. How high should a pedestal be? Should it be protected by glass? Does that bench need pillows?
Crucially, you can build more than just exhibits. Cafes and gift shops are on the table, too.
There are some sim mechanics here, as the size of the museum and its contents will affect the daily upkeep cost. You'll have to keep visitors happy to raise the prestige of your museum and keep the cash flowing. The Steam page offers a few more details:
"Attract visitors, address their comfort, make sure they exit through the gift shop (cha-ching), and manage their experience for maximum prestige and profit! Hire staff like researchers, conservators, and docents; they’ll keep your displays informative and, more importantly, intact. Stay on your toes because you never know situations you might encounter. Meet the demands of a visiting VIP and they might loan you a rare exhibit, but keep an eye on that shaky-looking dinosaur skeleton..."
Mondo Museum is out in Early Access this year, and also promises Steam Workshop support and built-in modding tools, a great movie for an indie sim like this. With a potentially endless supply of new community-made exhibits, every museum's collection can be unique.
