Sharks have been permeating the pop culture bubble lately. Whether it be the (ahem) “hilarity” of them falling from the sky in the Sharknado films to the sad sight of Michael Phelps “racing” one on the Discovery channel, sharks seem to be everywhere. Enter Shark Simulator a new physics-based sandbox game where you control a shark who is on the hunt for tourists.
Sounds a little too much like the film Jaws? If you thought that to be the case you are definitely wrong for at least one core reason. All this shark mayhem takes place on land.
In Shark Simulator, gamers take control of Ed the Shark. Ed’s core purpose in life is to cause as much destruction as possible and to kill or maim the maximum number of tourists. An entire island paradise is available for Ed to hunt his human prey. That hunting may start with his many rows of replaceable teeth but soon graduates to even more deadly implements such as blades or a ball and chain affixed to Ed’s tail.
Ed is also sure to find himself in all sorts of situations including floating from a parachute, jettisoned by a jetpack or swatting explosives with his tail. Ed has to be careful though as the cops patrolling the island paradise would be more than happy to turn Ed into a steaming bowl of shark fin soup.
Shark Simulator is developed by Aerilon Studios out of Laval France. It is the work of a two-man team, Artist Thomas Fabre and Programmer / Music Composer Maximilien Gabillard. The game officially released on Steam Early Access on October 6, 2017. It is in the vain of other successful physics-based animal simulators, a new genre kicked off by the success of Goat Simulator. That title earned over $12 million in revenue according to game designer Armin Ibrisagic.