The iconic Jurassic Park franchise has stormed back onto the management sim gaming scene with Jurassic World Evolution 2, and fans are already having a blast. With multiple modes to work your way through, it’s safe to say that you'll be coming back to Jurassic World Evolution 2 again and again.
Dinosaur enthusiasts may be interested in trying the game, but may feel put off by the complexities of it being a management sim. This is where we come in. With a game with as much to do as this, there are always a few tips and tricks that can help you along the way.
Updated on November 8, 2022, by Helen Ashcroft: Over the year since its release, more features have been added to Jurassic World Evolution 2, including the ability to access campaign maps in sandbox mode. We've updated these tips and added some more for the five specific campaign settings to ensure that you have the best chance of succeeding in campaign mode.
11 Start With Campaign Mode
Campaign mode is a goal-driven mode that gives you set tasks to complete. It starts off very simply and adds more complexity as you progress. While it's enjoyable due to the storyline that runs through it, what is especially helpful is that it guides you through all the features of the game, including some new ones.
The early levels function as a kind of enhanced tutorial, holding your hand a little as you learn the basics. If you've played the first game, you'll simply be able to hit the goals quite quickly and can just enjoy the story and the new features. If you've never played before you can take it slower and learn as you go.
10 Keep In Mind The Task At Hand
It’s easy to get caught up in the fun of Jurassic World and forget that you have very specific tasks in this mode, and at least initially there is little base building. You don't need to create four pens, when you only have one dinosaur to catch.
Keep your eye on the tasks and focus on each goal as it comes. The next steps aren't always predictable, and you could end up spending time and resources doing something unnecessary.
9 Live Capture Can be Automated
In this first mission you'll learn how to tranquilize and capture dinosaurs and how to build a basic enclosure. Throughout the game you may be required to physically find dinosaurs, but often they can be captured via map-based expeditions.
If you are struggling to find dinosaurs in the wild there is an overlay that shows the locations of all dinosaurs on the map. Since some them are very small, this will be invaluable at times.
Live capture is something that can be very tricky, but after you've learned how to do it manually during campaign mode, you are able to automate the tranquilising process. Tranquilised dinosaurs can then be transported to the appropriate areas. There will still be times when manual control is best though, so make sure you are as comfortable with it as you can be.
8 Take Your Time To Become Familiar With The Jeep
The second campaign, Washington, requires you to establish a basic facility in order to locate, capture, contain, and heal an Allosaurus. For the first half of this task you'll be entirely reliant on the Jeep, which you'll need to manually control. You'll seek out clues, find the dinosaur, and then safely tranquilise it.
If that sounds dangerous, it's because it is dangerous. This is your first major use of the Jeep, but we suggest taking your time to get familiar with it. While a lot of jeep tasks will be automated, some missions and modes require you to manually locate, tranquilise, or even herd dinosaurs. The more familiar you are with the controls of the Jeep the easier these will be. So practice now and reap the benefits later.
7 Check On Your Dinosaurs
As you are starting to capture and house more dinosaurs it's important to keep an eye on their health. Do your best to check in on how all of your dinosaurs are doing whenever possible by setting up Ranger Patrols. The quickest route to failure is through a park full of irritated dinosaurs that are fed up with their enclosure conditions.
When you scan your dinosaurs you will be able to see exactly what their various needs and wants are from food to their specific enclosures. The wrong types of food and poorly constructed enclosures are sure to leave your dinosaurs in an irritable mood.
6 Always Prepare For An Emergency
Throughout any game mode, there’s bound to be an emergency you’ll have to deal with at some point, however careful you are. The key to mitigating a crisis as much as possible comes in the form of emergency shelters. While many of the staff travel underground on the hyper loop, there are still plenty around the paths waiting to become dinosaur food.
It’s easy to neglect using the shelters until you wind up in a situation where having one at the ready would have saved the day. Storms could destroy your fences at pretty much any point, so it’s a good idea to give people a place to run in order to avoid any casualties in the park.
5 Don’t Be Afraid To Change Your Building Layout
Somewhere along the way you are bound to make a mistake, or at the very least make a few early-game decisions that might be less than advantageous later on. Being stubborn and allowing your past mistakes to bog down the rest of your play session is one of the easiest things to avoid. While campaign missions are short you can still scupper yourself since many maps are tight spaces, so don't be afraid to make changes.
You can easily manage and relocate old buildings to more advantageous positions so long as you have the funds to do so. If you really can’t decide what to do with an old building, you can always deactivate it and come back to it later. This will also stop buildings currently losing money from draining your resources. You can always re-open them after relocation.
4 Utilize The Pause Function To Make A Plan
Thankfully, Jurassic World Evolution 2 offers plenty of ways to strategize your way through the game’s campaign. While you can actually get a lot done while the game is in a paused state, the most useful thing is being able to take a moment and think about your needs.
Everything you plan to build while paused won’t start until the paused state is ended, but for when you recognize trouble on the horizon, the feature is a must-use. Utilizing the feature also allows for a more relaxed play session. Setting in place a chain of events before a crisis worsens can make a huge difference in all game modes.
3 Keep A Close Eye On Your Aviaries
During the Oregan campaign you will be introduced to aviaries. At first, they seem simple. You add the circular buildings, adjust the terrain a little, put down some feeders and set a patrol. It all seems very easy.
Once a hole appears in an aviary dinosaurs can escape, but often they don't all go at once. If you see a notification of an escaped flying dinosaur, pause the game and set a ranger team to repair the damage as its highest priority. Then capture the escapee.
However, flying dinosaurs are more volatile than many and seem to get easily frustrated by their enclosure. If the conditions aren't perfect they quickly make holes in the glass and fly off around the facility, causing havoc. They'll attack anyone in their way, as well as your helicopters. So make sure you are checking in and adjusting where required.
2 Keep An Eye On Your Power
It’s easy to forget about the small things, but in a game like this, even the small things can have big ramifications when ignored. Power is something that it's very easy to ignore but doing so will have devastating consequences.
In campaign mode most power is provided by generators. Unless you specifically research power stations, something you likely won't do in campaign mode, since the missions are usually quite short, you'll need to keep an eye on your power. Power Generators need periodically refilling. The game’s pause feature comes in handy here to make sure you can get the power back online as soon as possible.
1 The Overlay Is Your Friend
Jurassic World Evolution 2 has a heatmap overlay that offers an easy way to check for problems. You can highlight dinosaur locations, coverage of facilities, and much more.
Use this to find where the issues are within your facilities. There are also easy to spot icons on the regular map, and you can click on notifications to get more information. The game wants you to solve the issues so try all these methods and see which works best for you.