Let’s Build a Zoo (opens in new tab), the zoo management sim that lets players cross-breed new animal species, has announced its second expansion. Named Aquarium Odyssey, this slippery slice of DLC will let players build and manage their own aquatic enclosures, filling tanks with all manner of weird and wonderful sea life.
The announcement was accompanied by a short new trailer demonstrating the waves of new features the expansion will bring. Naturally, the main attraction is the 50 new species of animal you’ll get to look after, including whales, sharks, starfish, swordfish, and er, regular fish (I can’t be specific because the trailer is only a minute long and the sprites are very small). These budding fruits de mer can be housed in seven new enclosures, while your Aquarium can be dressed up with over a hundred new shops and decorations.
All this is explorable in a new campaign that publisher No More Robots reckons will keep players busy for at least another twenty hours. There’s no word on what new challenges looking after perpetually wet animals will involve, but presumably you’ll have to manage factors like air filtration, separate your sharks from your salmon, and so forth. Moreover, given the previous expansion, Dinosaur Island (opens in new tab), let players splice dino DNA with the game’s existing menagerie, it’s safe to assume Aquarium Odyssey will continue this proud (if ethically dubious) tradition of playing god.
More details about Aquarium Odyssey, including the release date, will be revealed later this year. For now, you’ll have to content yourself with the free Sloths and Spas update, which developer Springloaded has released to accompany the announcement. Only one question remains, then, and that’s whether Aquarian Odyssey will allow Chris to be as evil (opens in new tab) as Dinosaur Island did.