Let's Build a Zoo is a game that's been on my wishlist for soooooo long. So very long. It seemed to be a game right up my alley, but at the same time I didn't want to spend much more than $10 on this $30 game.
It was on sale recently (and still, as of writing this) for $11AUD ... and finally, I added it to cart and bought the damned thing.
I wish I had done it sooner.
I spent a good 10 hours building a temporary zoo, getting used to all the things so I could make a fantastic zoo and post it here on Hive. I didn't even realise that 10 hours had passed. It's addictive, okay?
So. Let's build a zoo.
I have a small parcel of land that is mine to build upon. Mine to design. Mine to corrupt allow to flourish!
The dirt that this land is covered in is actually one of the things that turned me off the game when I saw it in screenshots. It made me think that a dirty, uncustomisable zoo was all I could have. Thankfully I was wrong.
Let there be grass!
It's painful to paint the grass on. You literally have to paint it onto every square, you can't "fill" it in — at least, if there is such a command I am yet to find it. So I just click and draaaaag, click and draaaaaag, sometimes I liven it up by clicking then moving left or right on the keyboard. Either way, there is no fill and that makes me sad.
ANYWAY. I'm set up with a research centre, storehouse, a little gift shop and some vending machines, anndddd my first enclosure has two bunnies inside. BUNNIES! 🐇
I'm soon faced with my first moral dilemma.
A man has lost his labrador and we've just so happened to have found it wandering the zoo grounds. Do we return it to the owner or do we keep it, dress it up like a lion, and make some money bamboozling some folks?
I chose to be good.
This first zoo of mine is going to be built upon the ethical, moral highground and I will not indulge in any wrongdoing, as tempting as some wrongdoings may be.
Word of my zoo spreads and I can soon afford to buy some more land!
Alongside my bunnies I have some capybaras and some snakes and some geese! All animals of the not-quite-so interesting variety. I personally wouldn't want to visit this zoo with this pitiful selection of creatures, but we've got to start somewhere.
Because I am a person of ethics and morals and am doing everything in my power to be as good as possible, I can invest in green technology, renewables, and farming, amongst some other things.
I like the idea of being able to supply my own power and resell the excess. Same with water. And making my own food so I don't have to buy it. Win/win.
I have grand ambitions — grand! I will be a completely self-sustainable zoo.
I've gotten a couple of farms built up, have bought some more land, have added some hyenas to my animal menagerie, and have joined a scientific endeavour to play around with animal DNA... for the greater good! It is not evil at all. I am helping.
Suddenly, a desperate message appears! There is flooding and a kind soul needs to help evacuate and rehome a colony of monkeys.
The moral choice is: of course! I will help! I will donate some money to your charity and take the monkeys off your hands. They are my monkeys now.
Little did I know how damned expensive they would be.
When they got into their exhibit, I hurried to the storeroom to assign a zookeeper to them and to check their nutritional requirements. Damnable creatures were going to cost me just over $100 a day to feed! By far my most expensive animal yet.
Obviously, being the kind soul that I am, I gritted my teeth and took the blow to my income and kept the monkeys.
Whilst researching a bunch of stuff for my zoo, I couldn't help but notice as things for the morally questionable appeared, unable to be obtained and just gloating in my face of what could have been.
xD
Some of these things are great and I will definitely want to make an evil playthrough of this so I can do all this stuff. Butcher animals. Turn snakes into belts. Steal electricity instead of creating my own. etc. But that's not here or now. I AM A GOOD PERSON.
At some point the fourth wall is broken and my zoo is contacted by some gaming developers who are interested in making a videogame of a zoo simulation. Let's Build a Zoo! They offer to pay me a total of $211,000 in multiple payments and it's free promotion for my wonderful zoo.
Obviously I say YES.
After many in-game days, my zoo is doing wonders.
I have a rehabilitation centre to rehouse animals in the wild. I can see what species are in decline and work to help restore their wild population thanks to my zoo breeding programs. I currently have around 300 people visiting every day, but I have interest from over 1000... unfortunately, I need more busses! And busses are expensive. And also use a lot of fuel which I have to pay for.
Somewhere, hidden in the research tree, will be a thing that converts my animal's collected methane into fuel. That's my next important research that I need to discover. Unfortunately I keep getting distracted by pretty things, decorations and the like. xD
My zoo has been open for 4 and a half in-game months and is thriving. Everything in this post was done today, because, as I said at the start of this post, I am a filthy hyper-fixated addict.
I am looking forward to continuing my zoo tomorrow and seeing how much further I can expand! 😁
I will have the greatest zoo in zee world!
Until next time! 😊🦅🦎🐪