But just finding the warehouse on the tech list took a lot of slow scrolling back and forth, and when I did find it I saw that a prerequisite was researching schools. I had to research jewelry stores and defense platforms before I could build the most basic fast food restaurantįor instance, at one point my supply depots were filling up and an in-game tip suggested I build a warehouse, which I first needed to research. It's difficult to find where certain unlocks are on the massive tech tree, and they aren't always sensibly located. Rather than being laid out in a logical tier list everything is combined into a single big, incredibly long scrollable menu. (Image credit: Digital Reef Games) Tech wreckīut I do have a beef with one of Aquatico's systems in particular: the research tech tree. Sharks are a threat, but a guard tower can blast them with lasers. The missions provide the slimmest strands of narrative threads, usually boiling down to a single choice (fight a pirate sub or try to be friendly?) but it's nice to feel like my city is just one of many different undersea colonies. After building a special hub, I can stock a submarine with human explorers and supplies and send it offscreen to investigate SOS signals, abandoned colonies, or new sources of food and resources. A tiny detail I love about the cable cars: adults will sit in the seats but kids will stand by the window, curiously looking out at the ocean passing by.Īnother bright point is an expedition system a bit similar to Frostpunk's. There's public transportation in the form of cable cars so people can move between domes without having to put on a scuba suit. The domes slowly become neighborhoods with houses, shops, restaurants, schools, and even pets are visible when you zoom in and peer through the enclosure. And there's a second level of construction, accessed by tapping the Tab key, where you build large domes for the growing human population. There are plenty of other inventive and imaginative undersea touches, too, like farms that grow fields of cucumbers (sea cucumbers, of course) and animal pens for raising tuna instead of cattle.

Aquatico watch review