8 Jurassic World Evolution 2 tips for beginners and beyond
How to get started in Jurassic World Evolution 2
Taking on board some Jurassic World Evolution 2 tips will give you the best chance of building a successful park, and although you'll never be able to avoid those little 'accidents' that are designed to keep you on your toes, you can at least be prepared for how to deal with the challenges that get thrown your way. There are plenty of new features for dinosaur-enthusiasts to get to grips with that can make your initial playthrough somewhat tricky, which is why we're here to guide you through it. Whether you're trying to increase efficiency or just figure out why the dinosaurs keep escaping, keep these Jurassic World Evolution 2 tips in mind for a helping hand as you build your first park.
1. Choose a Jurassic World Evolution 2 game mode
Jurassic World Evolution 2 has four different game modes. Here’s a quick overview:
- Campaign Mode: the main story. You’ll be visiting several Jurassic Parks where you’ll have to fix issues such as broken fences and illnesses.
- Chaos Theory Mode: another story mode, but focused on scenarios from the movies.
- Challenge Mode: create the best Jurassic Parks as quickly as possible.
- Sandbox Mode: the best option if you want to get creative. However, most locations and facilities are locked until you research them in the story modes or challenge mode.
It can be tempting to go for the Sandbox Mode straight away, but it’s best to start with the Campaign Mode instead. This mode will talk you through the basics of capturing dinosaurs and building your park. Furthermore, it will allow you to unlock many of the facilities that you can later use in Sandbox Mode.
2. Delegate tasks and speed up time to avoid doing everything yourself
You wouldn’t be the first to overlook the fact that you don’t have to do everything manually in Jurassic World Evolution 2. Instead of tranquillizing dinosaurs and checking their welfare by yourself, you can task the capture teams and rangers teams to do so for you. Just click a unit, click ‘assign task’, and then left-click on the right location.
You can also place Ranger Posts inside the dinosaur habitats and assign a Ranger Team to that post. This will ensure regular check-ups. The only downside to delegating these tasks is that your cars may get destroyed from time to time, but that’s probably a risk you’re willing to take.
After assigning tasks, you can speed up time in the lower right corner of your screen. Especially when starting a new game, you don’t want to sit around waiting for your first dinosaurs to arrive.
3. Research your dinosaurs' needs and keep them happy to stop them escaping
This sound terribly unsafe, but the starter fences aren’t actually able to keep an angry dinosaur inside. If you capture a dinosaur and put it in an empty facility (without food, water, etc.), it will become unhappy, break out, and eat your visitors.
It’s therefore very important to research the dinosaurs’ needs as quickly as possible. Scan them with the Ranger Team to find out what kind of habitat they want, and then provide it. Besides finding the correct food and habitat types, do not underestimate the importance of territory size either. Dino’s are big, so give them enough space.
4. Provide power and fuel to the Jurassic World Evolution 2 facilities
No matter how happy your dinosaurs are though, they will always escape if the power supply fails. Every enclosure must therefore be connected to a power facility. At the start of the Campaign, you’ll find the ‘Backup Generator’ under the ‘power’ tab. Before placing it, you’ll see a large yellow circle indicating the facility’s range.
You don’t have to place all your fences right next to the generator though. If one part of the dinosaur enclosure is located within this yellow circle, all the connected fences are powered too. Be sure to check the fuel supply from time to time; you’ll have to refill this manually.
5. How to choose scientists in Jurassic World Evolution 2
Actions such as getting new dinosaurs and treating illnesses require the help of scientists. Scientists have three different stats: logistics, genetics, and welfare. When hiring your first three scientists, keep the following in mind:
- Get a specialized scientist for each of the three skill types.
- Consider their salary. Some are only slightly less skilled than others, but much cheaper.
- Consider their character traits. An altruistic scientist will require less money, for example.
- Don’t just look at the scientist’s current skill level, but also at their potential. If you see a logistics stat of 2/8 for example, the potential (8) is quite high, even though the current skill level (2) is still low. You may reach this potential through training.
Jurassic World Evolution 2 has this (slightly odd) feature that may cause your Scientists to sabotage the park when they get disgruntled. You probably don’t want them to set the Velociraptors on your visitors, so let the scientists rest in the Staff Center from time to time. You can find a ‘Sabotage Meter’ (measuring the current risk) in the lower right corner of the screen.
6. You can deactivate and relocate buildings
Regret the location of that viewing gallery? Then you can click on it, click the three dots, and choose ‘relocate’. Doing so comes at an additional cost, but it may be worth it if it increases the view range (happy customers) or solves logistical problems.
Furthermore, if you notice that one of your facilities isn’t useful at the moment, you don’t have to destroy it. Click the three dots as described above again, and go for ‘deactivate’. The building won’t have any maintenance costs until you reactivate it.
7. Use the Map and Management View in Jurassic World Evolution 2
The Map and Management View tabs are going to be your best friends. The Management View will immediately tell you how your park is doing, from safety measures to the visibility of your dinosaurs. Pay special attention to ‘operative crowding’ (your infrastructure), as this can quickly become an issue for your park.
In case of an emergency such as a dinosaur escape (see picture), you should switch to the Map. It will show you where the fences are broken and where your escaped dinosaurs ran off to.
8. Get an emergency shelter
To be entirely honest, it’s very hard to keep your visitors from getting eaten by a T-Rex. Even with strong fences, happy dinosaurs, and happy scientists, your enclosures may get destroyed by storms.
As casualties result in low safety ratings for your Jurassic Park, you should always build an emergency shelter. Make sure it’s located somewhere central, and it will limit your reputation damage.
Seems like you’re all set to keep some dinosaurs. Have fun building your own Jurassic Park!
Alternatively, if you feel like going back to the previous game, we've got Jurassic World Evolution tips for that too!
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I’m a freelance journalist who (surprise!) kind of has a thing for videogames. When I’m not working on guides for GamesRadar, you can probably find me somewhere in Teyvat, Novigrad, or Whiterun. Unless I’m feeling competitive, in which case you should try Erangel. You can also find my words on PCGamesN, Fanbyte, PCGamer, Polygon, Esports Insider, and Game Rant.