Two Point Museum has been one of my favorite games to play across multiple platforms, including the PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch 2. A brand new DLC just launched for the game, Arty-Facts, and is available on PC via Steam or the Epic Games Store, Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. The Nintendo Switch 2 update will come at a later date.
Two Point Museum is phenomenal, and is easily one the best simulation games of all time. But with the third major paid expansion, are things starting to become a bit lackluster?
Arty-Facts brings the world of art and design to Two Point Museum. The DLC includes a brand new map to play on, decorations that work across all the game’s major themes, new visitors, new professionals, and a new exploration map. There is a lot here to digest. Putting lots of stuff into a single package doesn’t necessarily make it good, though, so let’s dive into each aspect of the DLC and see if it is worth picking up.
Arty-Facts is bringing more of the same to Two Point Museum, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. More decorations, more exhibits, more visitors. More, more, more. This is where Two Point Studios has excelled over the lifecycle of this game. Each new expansion brings a host of new things, and they are always interesting and fun to experiment with. While the previous expansion for the game, Zooseum, definitely brought a lot of content to the table, I think what we get in Arty-Facts is more diversified and deep, while actually adding more to the overall experience.
The depths that this DLC will take fans is fantastic, but it also comes with a fair amount of overhead. There is a lot more to consider when diving into the world of art in Two Point Museum, most of that centered around the brand new emotions mechanic. You can tap into the emotions of your art experts to create unique pieces of art; guests will also feel emotions when viewing the art, and this will tie into their overall opinion of your museum and the donations you might get from guests.
You’ll want to balance the exhibits you put on display as well – you will get to explore another exploration map and find world famous paintings and sculptures to add to your museum. With tons of cartoony styled artwork based on real world counterparts to find, you’ll constantly be torn between sending art experts out on expeditions, and creating your own work in-house.
What might cause problems for some is that this is yet another in-game system to worry about – I found it easily manageable when playing through the campaign included with this new DLC, but when balancing this and a zoo and everything else in sandbox mode, it was a bit overwhelming. I am hoping that this is something that becomes less of an issue with time.
I think one big draw for the Arty-Fact DLC is the plethora of new things to decorate your museum with. Although these will be categorized in the Arty-Fact section of your build panel, the items included with this DLC actually work across the spectrum. The metal wall pipes look just as good next to art as they do in an aquarium section, or with the space items.
The metal pillar is a fantastic new addition that can frame an art piece in the middle of a room, but also work next to a bunch of plants. Unlike previous DLC decorative items, these seem to be a lot more universal in their uses, which will be a highlight for those building things for looks!
I also found that the artwork and statues themselves actually blend well into most other themes. While you could build a dedicated art section in your museum, I’ve begun spreading these pieces of art and my numerous sculptures all around the museum. Specifically with paintings, their footprint in the museum is so small, that you can easily fit these into pre-existing museum designs.
The Arty-Fact DLC for Two Point Museum only makes this game more enjoyable in my opinion. Even if art isn’t your favorite medium, for a suggested price of $10.99 USD, there is a ton of content here even if you only dabble in the art aspect lightly.
I’ve argued in the past that Two Point Museum is one of the best bang-for-buck experiences currently available on console or PC, and this new DLC only adds to that argument. There is easily 20-30 hours of additional gameplay here for only a few dollars, and if you are invested in building fantastic museums, this is a no brainer of a purchase.
Adam has been writing about video games since 2014 and board games since 2018. If he's not rooting for the Toronto Maple Leafs or Toronto FC, he definitely has a controller in his hand - probably playing on a Nintendo platform - or is sitting at a table playing a board game. Adam also has firm opinions on a few key topics: there are much better board games than Settlers of Catan, and Nintendo doesn't need to compete with Sony and Microsoft.
Bulkhead Interactive has announced it is moving WARDOGS' early access release forward, with the tactical FPS now targeting a launch later this summer. The studio cited overwhelmingly positive feedback from…
