I almost feel bad bringing up Planet Coaster again, but given the proximity of these two releases and the shared intentions it'd be silly not to, especially in the context of simulation. The art style is similarly simplistic and charming, but you also shouldn't let that mislead - this is a deep, complex simulation. It allows you to focus on your park's design without worrying about the finer detail of if things actually stitch together properly from an on-the-ground view. Aside from a modest zoom, there's no real 'free' camera control here - but that is by design.

It all takes place from an isometric view that can be rotated four ways in locked increments.

It's devoted to the cause, and part and parcel with that is keeping some aspects of the game simple. Part of that is perhaps down to the team behind the game, a core of three who started making it simply because they loved the games it emulates. There's something that Parkitect gets about what made the likes of Theme Park and RollerCoaster Tycoon successful that isn't quite as well expressed in its big-budget rival Planet Coaster. While the management sim genre has had something of a resurgent few years with the likes of Cities Skylines, Two Point Hospital, and fellow amusement park sim Planet Coaster, for my money Parkitect is something truly special even when compared to its closest peers. It's not even like Parkitect is new - I've had it on Early Access for over a year, but its 'final' release just landed at the end of 2018.

It's certainly not like 2018 lacked the games to keep me interested either - and that makes the one game that did manage to capture my attention over the break all the more deserving of praise. To be honest, this was because I was knackered: a house move, a new puppy, and a grueling final few months writing about last year's big releases meant all I wanted to do was sleep. Usually vast amounts of the Christmas break are spent sitting in a dressing gown, eating junk food and clearing my backlog - but in 2018, I just. This holiday break, I somewhat broke a tradition - I barely spent any time playing video games. The management sim is on the up again, but Parkitect might be my favorite game of the genre's revival yet.

Parkitect game review