Gonna Make Me Stay Up All Night - Zoo Tycoon

Grandpas are great. Not only do they teach Little Boys how to put a worm on a hook and take a fish off a hook, they also buy excellent presents that little boys and their mothers find endlessly amusing. Case in point: Zoo Tycoon. So great is this Grandpa gift, that I’m compelled to review it.

Installation

We run Windows Me on a quirky computer with an extremely bad attitude. Nothing is easy to install. There is always a snag, a catch, a snafu. Not with Zoo Tycoon. Insert the disc, follow the directions and a few clicks later, the game has installed without a hitch. This can only be described as a minor computer miracle. Following the basic installation, there is an available tutorial on game play. The tutorial describes the different aspects of the game and allows the user to try out each one. The directions are written at a level that my ten year old had no trouble understanding and following. It gives young users a good feel for the basics of the game and staves off some frustration later on. The tutorial and practice game can be run again at any time. The game also comes with a printed manual that users can refer to – written at the same level as the tutorial.

Set Up

The game begins with some basic options. You choose the size of your zoo, its location, and how much capitol to begin with. There are small, medium and large zoos, each with half a dozen or so options for locations. The locations range from Myth Gardens (small) to Lunar Facility (medium) to Dune Sea (large). Each locale has its own challenges. For example, the Jungle River locale (medium) requires the player to supply a large number of drink stands and machines (it’s hot in that jungle).

Start up cash can range from $10,000 (level of game difficulty – hard) to $500,000 (level of game difficulty – easy, but I still manage to go bankrupt frequently). Once you’ve chosen your site and your cash, you’re ready to go.

Basic Play

The object of the game is, obviously, to build a zoo. Along the left side of the screen are tabs providing all the tools you’ll need to complete this feat. Players can construct enclosures, adopt animals, create proper habitats, hire staff and construct amenities (like bathrooms). As play continues, more options in terms of building materials, animals and zoo structures become available. Each animal requires a specific habitat in order to thrive. There is minimal information to be had about each creature simply by placing the cursor over the animal’s picture. More in depth information about the habits, world status and behavior of the animal (including how well they thrive in captivity) is available by clicking the information box while in the animal adoption panel. Once you adopt an animal, the zookeeper can tell you what specifically needs to be done to the enclosure to create a satisfactory habitat (in terms of water, terrain, foliage, toys, crowding, etc.). If you have unhappy animals, a box of text will appear at the top of the screen. You can click on the box and be taken directly to the problem, which you then need to fix, lest you get sanctioned by the Zoo Sanctioners for having a bad zoo. Your animals, if in a good habitat, will likely reproduce, making cute little baby animals that make cute little noises and make the kidlets go “awwww”.

The other aspect to Zoo Tycoon is keeping your guests happy. As Zoo Owner/Manager/Master/Emperor/Despot/Tyrant/Dictator, it is your job to supply the amenities your picky guests often require. They are frequently hungry, thirsty, tired or grumpy. The key to a successful zoo is not only providing them with suitable facilities, but also putting them in the most opportune places. This is the only way to make enough money to keep the zoo afloat and avoid those pesky messages informing you that your guests are all hungry despite the 42 hamburger stands that are going unused. You can sell back buildings that are losing money, as well as selling animals from exhibits that become overcrowded as a result of breeding. It’s no small task being Zoo Dictator.

Players are able to keep track of all of the financial aspects of their operation, including setting prices at the various amenities, increasing or decreasing marketing, or investing in research and conservation. This is a part of the game that can be delved into deeply, or relatively ignored, depending on the wishes of the player. This is a nice feature, as it lets your child (or his mother) expand their management of the zoo as they get older (or better at the game).

Sound and Graphics

I don’t play a lot of computer games – I’m too easily addicted. So I don’t have much experience in the area of game graphics and sound. What I can tell you is that Zoo Tycoon is a step up from Rollercoaster Tycoon as far as graphics go. The little people are not all the same except for different shirts – there are a nice variety of guests. The animals are small, of course, but well rendered. They play and eat and interact within their exhibit. The various locales are appealing and the variety of available aesthetic improvements satisfactory. It’s a cute game.

The sound is rather generic. It reminds me of Scooby Doo cartoons with the scenery going by in a continuous loop. The sounds aren’t terribly interesting, but you can hear the clanking of knives and forks in the restaurant, the toilets flushing, the animals making noises, an occasional exclamation from a guest. I haven’t, to this point, had an enclosure failure, so I don’t know if you get to hear all the guests screaming if the lions escape. I also don’t know if the lions will eat the guests. I’m sure at some point I will find this out. Maybe on purpose (if there are no easily traumatized children around, of course).

One Complaint

The only complaint I have about Zoo Tycoon (aside from the fact that I end up building zoos until all hours of the night) is that the screen navigation gets slow as your zoo becomes more complex. Understandable, but a bit frustrating when you can’t get from one place to another quickly. The one way we have figured out to combat this problem is to pause the game if you need to travel a long distance. Navigation is much quicker when the game is paused.

So What Does the Little Boy Think?

The Little Boy loves this game. Other “educational” games he’s played have not fascinated him nearly to the degree of Zoo Tycoon. His favorite parts of the game are definitely choosing animals and setting up and maintaining habitats. Even on the easy setting, there is enough for him to do tending the animals that he hasn’t, to this point, gotten bored. He’s also played the game with friends (one operating the game, the other hollering instructions and leaving smudgy fingerprints on the computer screen), and unlike other games, both the “driver” and the watcher/hollerer have fun. The business aspect doesn’t interest him, so it’s nice to have an easier setting where the financial stuff really isn’t an issue. The longer he has the game, the more he figures out about which animals are too picky in which setting, which ones breed the fastest, you name it. As he gets older, he may have more interest in the “business”, but for right now it’s all about the animals. The Little Boy would also like to have slightly more time to play this game, but his mother is still bigger than he is and just needs to build this one last exhibit………


Zoo Tycoon is a Microsoft product, created by Blue Fang Games, and rated E for Everyone. The game packaging claims that it will run on Windows 98/Me/2000/XP.
What I can tell you is that we run it on Me without any problem. This is an ideal game for any child who loves animals, and it doesn’t require anything more than your standard PC to play. The game has educational value as your child (or his mother) learns about the animals and about running a business. It’s also just plain fun. Zoo Tycoon has expansion packs available including Marine Mania and Dinosaur Digs. Personally, I can’t wait to get these and set up my own little Jurassic Park. I think I’ll call Grandpa………..