Exotica 2: Pet Shop Simulator Review - A Cute Animal Paradise Built On A Foundation Of Spaghetti Code
It turns out that running a pet shop involves less cuddling puppies and more screaming at employees who don't know how to put a box on a shelf.
Exotica 2: Pet Shop Simulator markets itself as a "warm, sim-lite adventure" where you can grow your business at your own rhythm. Ideally, this means leisurely feeding geckos, breeding rare fish, and designing a cute storefront. In reality, it feels like the developers have never actually played a shop simulator before.
The game is currently sitting in a weird limbo. It officially launched as a full release, but it screams Early Access from every jagged pixel. The loop is addictive enough to keep you playing for ten hours, but you will spend eight of those hours fighting the user interface.
THE MENAGERIE
The undeniable highlight here is the sheer volume of critters. You have over 70 unique species ranging from dogs and cats to reptiles, birds, and fish. The models are decent enough for the budget, and there is a genuine dopamine hit when you unlock a new species to put on display.
The Breeding Game
The long-term hook is the breeding system. You can pair animals to discover rare color patterns or variants. This is where the game shines. Getting a rare variant feels rewarding, and watching your shop slowly fill up with unique creatures is the main reason I kept playing despite the headache.
However, the pacing is all over the place. Some animals take an eternity to grow. You might be on Day 14 of your shop, and the fish you bought on Day 1 are still not ready to breed. It turns the "cozy" pacing into a boring waiting game where you are staring at a tank praying for a fish to hit puberty.
MICROMANAGEMENT HELL
This is where the game falls apart. A shop simulator lives or dies by its automation. In Exotica 2, the automation is actively trying to sabotage you.
The Stocking Nightmare
You cannot assign specific items to specific shelves. If you hire a stocker, they will take whatever box is nearest and shove it into whatever empty space exists. If you are trying to organize your shop into a "Cat Section" and a "Bird Section," forget it. Your employees are agents of chaos who believe organization is a sin.
The Fish Incident
The UI for managing inventory is baffling. Selling live animals, specifically fish, requires a process so complex it feels like doing taxes. You have to get a foam container, open it (slow animation), select the specific fish gender and quantity, go to the tank, open the tank menu, deposit the fish, close the container, and throw it away. You have to do this for every single sale. It is exhausting.
Employee Issues
The staff you hire are not the brightest. Cleaners will sometimes just stand around while the shop looks like a landfill. You have to go into a computer menu to reassign them tasks just to "wake them up." It feels less like being a boss and more like being a babysitter for robots.
BUILDING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The building system is decent, allowing you to place walls and customize textures, but the economy is broken. The tutorial railroads you into building a structure, but often leaves you with so little money that you can't afford a roof. I spent my first five levels running an open-air convertible pet shop because shingles were too expensive.
The AI Elephant
The developers state that they used AI to create some of the portable wall decorations. I understand that indie development is hard and art assets are expensive. However, the game is selling well and has a 73% rating on Steam despite the jank.
Now that the cash is flowing, I hope they replace those assets with work from actual artists. AI art in a game about creativity and customization feels cheap. It is understandable for a placeholder, but it shouldn't be the final product.
The Verdict
Exotica 2: Pet Shop Simulator is a game with a golden heart wrapped in barbed wire. The animal variety is fantastic, and the breeding mechanics offer a great long-term goal. But the user experience is currently fighting you every step of the way. If you can tolerate buggy employees and a user interface designed by aliens, there is fun to be had here. For everyone else, maybe wait for a few more patches.
We at NLM received a key for this game for free, this however didn't impact our review in any way.
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