As you go through these motions again and again, you rapidly start wishing that the game had a smarter, more streamlined interface. Instead, you need to select Edit exhibit, then Animals, then Adopt new animal, then Tigers, then Malayan tiger, then choose a single tiger, three times over. Similarly, you might know that you want three Malayan tigers to populate your new tropical exhibit, but you can't just go to the list of available Malayan tigers, select the three you want, and watch as they're dramatically helicoptered in. New exhibits typically require an assortment of amenities-feeding stations, cleaning stations, toys, and the like-and you need to click through a few layers of menus to select and place each of these things, each time you create a new exhibit. You unlock access to new species and other stuff as your zoo's level increases.īut while it makes some actions easy, the interface makes others needlessly time-consuming, and since you need to do the same sorts of things over and over again in Zoo Tycoon, this becomes a serious source of frustration. Zoo Tycoon also notifies you about problems as they spring up-animals falling ill from neglect, guests complaining about the lack of food options, or what have you-so it's easy to prevent any trouble from getting too out of hand. Monitoring this stuff is easy at any time, you can "ping" anything from the social satisfaction of animals to your guests' satisfaction with entertainment options, and you get a quick, at-a-glance indication of how these wants are being met across the zoo so that you can easily spot problem areas.
There are benefits to spreading things out in a sensible way, though guests may not be thrilled if all of the food options are on the far end of the zoo, for instance, or if one section's collection of animals puts the variety of animals on display in another section to shame. Pathways automatically spring up to connect any new exhibits to the existing zoo. Placing new exhibits is a breeze, and you never need to put too much thought into designing the layout of your zoo, if you don't want to. In this overhead view, you place new exhibits and edit existing ones, as well as adopt new animals build concession stands, restrooms, zookeeper centers, and other facilities and beautify your zoo with all sorts of statues, fountains, topiaries, and other decorations. The first time a giraffe slowly lowers its long neck to grab that apple from you is magical, and it's fun to just watch meerkats stand about in that adorable vigilant pose of theirs or observe bears as they go down a slide.īut the game's other view, called tycoon view, is far more practical for accomplishing the sorts of things you need to spend most of your time doing. It's also in zoo view that you can interact with animals, holding out fruit or vegetables to be plucked right from your hands by elephants, giraffes, or antelopes spraying hippos, rhinos, and other animals or playing monkey see, monkey do with lions, tigers, or chimpanzees (which are not monkeys). And don't worry you can't hurt anyone, no matter how recklessly you speed about in your elephant buggy. The buggies are fun to drive, and come complete with hand brakes you can slam on to make wild turns and leave tire tracks in your wake. You spend some of your time with Zoo Tycoon in what's called zoo view, controlling a zookeeper who can run about the zoo grounds on foot, or leap into cute buggies that look like tigers or zebras and go careening about on four wheels. Unfortunately, Zoo Tycoon's interface makes the work of building and managing your zoo really feel like work, diminishing the pleasures to be had in creating a great place for people to observe and interact with the animal kingdom.
The authentic and adorable behaviors they exhibit make Zoo Tycoon an endearing game that fosters an appreciation for the diversity of creatures with whom we share this planet. Zoo Tycoon impresses you immediately with its animals.