Fairground Online Review Summary

Exceptional visual and audio design: The game is praised for its top-notch graphics, lighting, and attention to detail, including beautiful terrain, weather systems, and well-selected music. Audio quality is also highlighted as excellent, contributing to an immersive experience.

Highly engaging multiplayer experience: Players emphasize the well-executed multiplayer mode, which allows for cooperative gameplay with friends, such as controlling rides and collecting tickets. The feature is described as 'beyond incredible' and a major selling point.

Strong gameplay with realism focus: The gameplay is lauded for its realism, variety of activities, and lack of grind. Features like detailed ride controls, business management, and realistic physics enhance the experience, making it appealing to fans of the genre.

Developer dedication and potential: Reviewers highlight the developers' attention to detail, continuous updates, and quick hotfixes. The game is seen as having high potential for future improvements, including planned free DLCs, justifying its price.

Unique and detailed Kirmes simulation: The game stands out as a highly detailed fairground (Kirmes) simulation, appealing to genre enthusiasts. Features like customizable lighting, ride controls, and business management add depth to the experience.

Severe performance problems: Unplayable FPS drops (as low as 10 FPS), stuttering, and lag—even on high-end hardware—are exacerbated by multiplayer or complex scenes (e.g., fairgrounds).

Overpriced for current content: Players consistently report the €30 price tag is unjustified due to limited rides, performance issues, and lack of polish. Many cite free alternatives as a better value.

Poor UI/UX design: Overloaded controls, tiny UI on ultrawide screens, and a messy GUI frustrate players, especially given the game’s price point.

Limited ride/content variety: Fewer rides than previous installments, small maps, and quickly exhausted content leave players feeling underwhelmed for the price.

Broken features and mechanics: Music import fails, jingles are missing/unlabeled, and keybindings or ride designs cannot be customized. Some mechanics (e.g., NPCs floating) break immersion.

Detailed ride simulation mechanics: Players highlight the game's focus on operating rides with high attention to detail, including controlling rides, ticket booth operations, and realistic physics. This creates an immersive fairground (Kirmes) simulation experience.

Custom music and sound options: Players appreciate the ability to add custom music and the availability of 12x10 jingles, as well as sound mechanics for attractions like Mega Dance, enhancing immersion.

Customization and control features: The game offers extensive customization options, such as ride design, terrain, lighting, weather systems, and keybinding. Players can also add custom music, enhancing creative freedom and personalization.

Multiplayer and co-op potential: Players express interest in multiplayer or co-op functionality, suggesting the game could benefit from collaborative fairground simulation experiences and shared activities.

Realistic business management: The game includes detailed business mechanics, such as refilling pressure air for rides and managing tasks for specific attractions, adding depth to the simulation experience.

Optimization and hardware requirements: The game is criticized for poor optimization, requiring NASA-level hardware for smooth performance. Even mid-range GPUs like the GTX 1660 Super struggle with high graphics settings.

Temporary fixes improve performance: Some performance issues, like FPS drops, are mitigated with solutions like AMD FSR or updates. However, these fixes are not universally effective for all players.

Voice chat stuttering: Voice chat functionality suffers from stuttering, impacting communication during multiplayer sessions.

Sound distortion in attractions: Players report audio issues, specifically sound distortion, in certain attractions, which detracts from the immersive experience.

Black screen during loading: Some players encounter a black screen issue during loading, preventing them from accessing the game entirely.

Price considered too high: Multiple reviews argue the game is overpriced at £25.99, suggesting fairer price ranges between £5-20 depending on perceived value. This reflects widespread concern about the game’s cost-to-content ratio.

Mixed recommendations for game: Players are divided on whether the game is worth purchasing, with some recommending it for its fun factor and niche appeal (e.g., fairground/Kirmes lovers), while others explicitly advise against buying it in its current state. The feedback highlights subjective enjoyment but also significant dissatisfaction.

Wait for patches advised: Some players recommend waiting for future updates or patches before purchasing, implying the game may have unresolved issues or potential for improvement. This suggests a cautious approach to adoption.

Early DLC announcements concern players: Players express frustration over DLC plans being announced before the full game release, fearing it prioritizes monetization over core content. Many are unwilling to accept paid DLC at this stage due to perceived lack of polish.

Demand for free updates and content: Players expect future updates, such as new rides or AI interactions, to be free or low-priced. There is skepticism about paying for additional content given the game's current state.

Game feels underdeveloped at launch: Many players believe the game needed more development time, citing missing features, bugs, and a lack of polish as key issues.

Refunds unavailable despite issues: Players express frustration over the inability to obtain refunds, especially given performance issues and unmet expectations at launch.

UI scaling options requested: Players demand UI scaling improvements to enhance usability, particularly for those with higher-resolution displays or accessibility needs.