A Closer Look at RockYou's Zoo World
Thank God, a game that doesn’t involve fish or aquariums. Frankly, Facebook feels way too much like high school. Something gets popular, and everybody does it. That is why Zoo World from RockYou is such a refreshing change. Originally discovered through the social developer’s Hug Me application, this zoo-keeping title has finally received its own stand-alone rendition that has its 1.4 million players creating their own, disgustingly cute, zoos.
The game actually starts out very similar to most Tycoon-style games. Players are granted a small patch of land with some starting animals on it and a few overly cheerful-looking patrons wandering about. They walk in, spend a little cash, look around, and walk out. That’s about all there is to it.
Starting with a small sum of cash, players are tasked with making their zoo worth more by adding new animals, concession stands, bathrooms, staff, and so on. Actually, one’s zoo is measured by a number of statistics, but is generally categorized into the total value of the zoo (based on the animals, tricks they know, and overall assets owned) and the quality grade of A – F (this consists of cleanliness, happiness of workers, parking, animals, etc.). The higher these are the better the player is doing, and the more money they earn.
Unfortunately, money seems to come extraordinarily slow if you don’t leave the game running in the background. Only $1 comes in at a time, and some of the starting stuff you need is incoherently expensive… especially when compared to other purchasable items. For example, how does a bathroom cost $4000 while a friggin’ tiger costs $450?! That’s about as cruel as charging $50 a use for a washroom at Octoberfest.
Another complaint is that players don’t seem to be able to actually control where their purchased animals and attractions go. The game just places it automatically, wherever there is space. Granted, there isn’t that much to decorate with, but it would be nice to have that choice, just to have a little more control.
It is, however, still surprisingly gratifying to see your zoo grow and evolve.
Speaking of evolution, players can actually breed animals. Sadly, this only consists of rare and ultra rare animals with the latter only purchasable with virtual currency that costs real money. Suffice to say, there wasn’t much to check out in that regard, but it certainly is a promising concept.
The game also has a wonderful, visual style. It is very simplistic, and the animals don’t even move, but with the peppy music (which does end up muted because it does not loop properly, by the way) and absurdly cute looking animals, the game is very… happy. It’s hard to get annoyed with any of the problems it has.
All in all, with the exception of denying players a means to directly customize their zoo, the complaints are relatively minor. That said, however, established companies like RockYou! should be held to a higher standard. Should the cost of items be more balanced? Yes. Should players be allowed more customization? Yes. Should the game be all in one Flash module rather than spread out amongst multiple pages? Yes. Could usability and interfaces be better? Yes. Point is, while the game is pretty good, it could be exponentially better.
