Waterpark Simulator Stands Out Among the Crowd [Initial Impressions]
So. Waterpark Simulator. Everyone's playing it, and a key for it even landed in my inbox despite at the time not having reviewed anything for months. I have no idea how they found me, but honestly sending me that key is what got me out of my game review funk. I've been procrastinating this review for a while, as I mulled over exactly what I wanted to say about this little strange gem of a game. Well guess what, time's up! I'm going to do my best to share my initial impressions, and hope it comes out okay.
TITLE: Waterpark Simulator
GENRE: Casual, Indie, Simulation, Early Access
DEVELOPER: CayPlay
PUBLISHER: CayPlay
RELEASE DATE: Aug 22, 2025
EARLY ACCESS RELEASE DATE: Aug 22, 2025
I'll level with you, when I accepted the key for Waterpark Simulator, it was only because I thought it was a different game. And well. My mistake. This takes after the current trend of career simulator games that I just do not understand. Outside of Powerwash Simulator and Spray Paint Simulator I have avoided them like the plague. I mean, why would I simulate working a job that doesn't pay me when I already have a real one? Suffice to say, at first when I started the game and realized it shared more with Supermarket Simulator than Roller Coaster Tycoon, my heart sank. I was not the target audience for this, and I was sure I was going to hate it. Then, I actually played it. The game is great!
A day in the world of Waterpark Simulator is the right kind of absurd. At the start, my avatar was the park's one and only employee. I'm not quite sure why I started a waterpark without budgeting for staff, but hey, hindsight is 20/20. It was my character's job to correctly enter tickets and then sell them to customers. Then I had to perform all the janitorial work including cleaning up poop, trash and puddles, foodservice work like selling through and restocking hotdogs, you know, all the mundane day in and day out stuff with running a park. But it doesn’t stop there!I had to kick people out who snuck it without a ticket (which is done with a satisfying shove), often in a timely manner before they stole all the hotdogs, which they were weirdly fond of doing. I was also the lifeguard, because people sometimes tried to drown, because of course they do. Then, if there's time left over, I needed to go pass out fliers, because the one thing I definitely needed at that point was more people to come the next day and poop in the park.
If this sounds chaotic (and full of some very delightfully immature potty humor) that’s because it is. And that's not even all of it! There's an actual management side to this game with placing objects such as the pools, diving boards, and slides and meeting people's needs through bathrooms, chairs, and showers. There’s even a whole tech tree to advance through. It actually requires some thought and strategy to properly manage. If I were to describe the game all in all, it's Supermarket Simulator meet Roller Coaster Tycoon meet Overcooked.
Thankfully, the game doesn't take itself too seriously which is definitely part of the fun. The game uses ragdoll physics for the main character and the guests. When I shoved a guest or they slipped in a puddle that I hadn't mopped up yet, they flail around cartoonishly and it’s always good for a laugh. As previously mentioned, guests can and will poop in the park, but they're these goofy purple things that remind of the original Digimon Adventures. It's so silly in fact, that it's hard to take any of it seriously, or even get too angry at it. The game’s wacky nature is so effective that sometimes it was more fun when things went wrong than when they went right.
All in all, this game is silly addictive nonsense that regularly made me smile. It’s currently available on Steam for $12.99, and devs have promised more content down the line. That said, I think there is already enough here to justify buying it right now. As for where it's going, I'm hopeful it's going to evolve into something greater than it already is. As for me, no promises, but I'm going to try to write a new article each time a new version drops!
Thank you Keymailer and CayPlay for the key. Now if you excuse me, I think someone is trying to steal my hotdogs…
