Planet Zoo
This is one of those games that I'm impressed by, but just doesn't grab me. I've tried to play several times and while I can see why people enjoy it, it's just missing the mark for me personally. It has a hugely detailed system for animal welfare and happiness, and a very flexible building system for habitats. There's also all the normal building simulation stuff like staff management, utilities, research etc. It also has campaigns and multiple free-build options. If you're interested in Zoos and want a detailed simulation experience, I can recommend it. For me, I think I was just worn down by the controls and menus. Trying to find what you're looking for and build it is a bit pretty clunky.
Pros
- Runs pretty well considering how much there is going on
- Voiced tutorial
- Incredibly detailed building system
- Focus on animal well-being
- The animations are pretty good, although a bit simple
- Animals have all sorts of different stats like immunity and longevity, and many different needs based on terrain, habitat, social grouping etc
Cons
- Too many menus. Trying to find anything is kind of a chore
- The balance between fun and detail is a little off for me
- There's a slight delay of about 200ms whenever I click on anything, object or animal which gets old really fast
- The animals are strange mix of realistic textures and simplified models, making them look a bit weird