What Makes a Theme Park?

by Gareth Hubball

When talking about Planet Coaster in a snap, something that we get asked a lot is “What is a Theme Park?” This is a rather nuanced question and one that we often seem to dodge. Here I’ll answer the question directly:

 

A theme park is whatever you want it to be!

 

That doesn’t sound overly helpful does it? Think about it this way: imagine if you’re not a big fan of coasters and your theme doesn’t rely on them at all, adding a roller coaster might mess up what you’re hoping for. Would you want a coaster to be required to be counted as a theme park? Imagine if you wanted to do something whereby people bought their own food and were encouraged to picnic, our requiring you to put a restaurant in your park might put the brakes on that.

 

The same argument could be made for any restriction that we place on what counts as a theme park: Flat rides? Scenery? Some form of transport ride? There can be park ideas that don’t conform to at least one of these potential requirements that are amazing ideas and spark creativity.

 

This leaves us with an issue: how does one define a theme park? Well: we’ll know it when we see it but trying to define it is a thankless task which seems to give no real benefits and can only serve to artificially limit creativity, however it seems to induce some stress (which it’s not intended to)

 

Remember that at the end of your build you have 5 minutes to show off your theme park, that’s the time to convince the judge(s) and chat that what you have built is a theme park and that it’s amazing… from what we’ve seen so far: everyone has managed to do that in spades! So to reiterate...

 

A theme park is whatever you want it to be!

 

Games in a Snap Team

Jul 16, 2021