Epic Games Store’s free game this week is Jurassic World Evolution 2

When Michael Crichton initially wrote Jurassic Park as a modern allegory for the ethical quandary and potential implications of the overreach of science in re-creating extinct creatures, I doubt he thought that 35 years later the prevailing cultural thought would be “sad for them, but I’m built different.”

• Jurassic World Evolution 2
• • Release Date: November 9, 2021
  • Game Type: Strategy, Management Sim
  • POV: 3rd person
  • Party: Single player
  • DLC: Includes an upgrade to the base game, the Dominion Biosyn and Dominion Malta expansions, plus multiple smaller DLC packs.

Jurassic World Evolution 2 is the sequel to Jurassic World Evolution, both of which were developed and published by Frontier, the team behind Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo. As such, there are a lot of similarities between this game and Planet Zoo — it’s not hard to make the leap from the ideas of Planet Zoo to, “what if this, but dinosaurs.” Dinosaurs are undeniably cool, and as the entire Jurassic Park franchise up til now has shown, provides some extra tough challenges to the people in charge of running the park beyond the typical guest complaints of dirty bathrooms or long walks to attractions.

This sequel also features characters (and voice acting) from the stars of the main franchise in Campaign mode, where you’re tasked with stopping the rampaging dinosaurs that have already escaped from the previous installments. You can also use bioengineering to create all-new forms of dinosaurs, which, given the events of the past doesn’t seem like the best of ideas, but like I said, you’re built different. I am simultaneously intrigued and horrified. But hey, free is free.