Zoo Life: Animal Park Game

It’s tough to give just 2 stars to Zoo Life, because there is a lot to like about the game. Great artwork and easy to operate game. If you could proceed through levels more speedily - similar to what you’re able to do on other offerings from the same studio - this would be a 5-star game. But it takes days and days to level up and even longer to get animals that you will have the necessary XP, cards, etc. to put in your zoo. Most of the time, you’ll be stuck upgrading facilities and collecting money or food. These types of game are always a balance between grinding to make the reward worth it and actually having fun with the reward you earn. Too much grind on this one. However, I see some fixes. First, boost the number of ways people can earn tokens, gold coins, and XP. Next, offer more bonus awards for tasks. Finally, offer more chances for people to open the card packs, which are absolutely necessary for progressing. Again, not a bad game in and of itself. Lots of potential. Just too slow to be enjoyable.

I’ve tried a few different zoo games for iPad. None measures up to the old Zoo Tycoon game but some are better than others. This is one of the better ones. The animals are attractive and there is a decent selection of them, there are lots of buildings and it isn’t too hard to build up most of the in-game currencies. It is very hard to earn zoo coins but every sim game has some premium currency that they make hard-to-get in order to try to get you to spend real money to buy more. My main frustration is with the limited availability of food for the animals. After I’d unlocked a fair number of animals, I found I was constantly running out of vegetables and meat, but I had maxed out on factories and gardens that produced them, and all were fully upgraded. I couldn’t get more without paying real money (which I won’t do) so I had to stop adding more animals until I could level up enough to buy more. I suppose the devs want to try to convince me to spend money on the game, but it’s annoying to have my animals hungry and not be able to give them anything. I wish there were more ways to make or earn resources for the animals.

I don’t write a lot of game reviews but wanted to share my experience with this game. I’ve been playing for almost a year. It’s one of those games you drop in a few times a day to collect in game cash and items and update a building or two. The strategy comes with trying to fit everything you want into the space available. After a while, the available animals start coming slowly. That is where long term strategy comes in. Getting enough resources to feed your animals while balancing your currencies and levels has an art form. It’s a slow and steady type of game. My only con in the game is the top tier animals are behind a paywall. Even if you unlock them in the card gatcha I haven’t figured out how to get their enclosure. They have been doing frequent updates and adding new features. Looking forward to see what is next.