Let’s build a Zoo Nintendo Switch Review

I was always told I enjoyed the Bullfrog classics like Theme Park and Theme Hospital and recently re-ignited that love with the subliminal Two Point series which seemingly resurrected the genre with the love and care that the older series deserved. When browsing the E-shop recently, I saw Let’s Build a Zoo along with its Dinosaur Island expansion pack (by developer “No More Robots”) for under $20 and thought to myself “This will be a nice distraction for the weekend.” What I didn’t realise is I had just discovered a game that goes much deeper than its 2-dimensional cutesy graphics.

Starzoo Valley

While most Tycoon (or video games in general) hold your hand with slow-paced tutorials, Let’s Build a Zoo hits the ground running with a snappy introduction and well-timed releases of new content and gameplay features that keep you constantly telling yourself you can turn it off after the end of the current in-game day. The objective of the game? Simply to build a zoo starting with cutesy rabbits and food carts and expanding into a wide array of restaurants, merchandise stores, transportation management, trading animals with other zoos, and a morality system that lets you be a force for change and a cleaner future, or a sinister villain who uses the zoo to manufacture animal products for profits.

Beyond Good and Evil

There’s a morality system in place in Let’s Build a Zoo that varies how you play the game so much, it deserves a second playthrough to see how the other side lives. On the one hand, you can invest in clean energy, recycle materials from your bins to make your merchandise, and ensure a species’ survival by releasing animals back into their natural habitats. On the other hand, you can create a Zoo which steals power from other sources, farms animals for financial gains, and generally makes the world a worse place by prioritizing nefarious activities and profits over everything else.

The morality system vastly impacts gameplay due to the research unlocking system. The more evil you are, the more profiteering and polluting your buildings can be, but if you focus on doing good, your zoo can save money on running costs with recycling and clean energy. It’s an unexpected gameplay system that creates a very unique Tycoon experience.

A Splice of Life

Another unique aspect of gameplay is the Crispr system which allows you to splice DNA genomes, unlocking different variations of species in your zoo. This system is free from the judgment of morality and focuses more on a research-style approach to unlocking genomes. The more species you have, the higher your chances of trading an animal to a neighboring zoo to unlock a new and exciting animal species to raise your zoo rating, increasing visitors and profits. Your Crispr can also clone animals you have unlocked in your zoo which you can then breed to create new variations. All in all, there is a tremendous amount of depth to this Zoo management which constantly kept me playing through another day to see what new attractions I could unlock.

Fine Tune

One of the most surprising aspects of the game is how simple it is to move or edit enclosures and buildings, allowing you to rework a section of your zoo to increase its rating or tweak something that isn’t working quite right. The intuitive reports and heatmaps tell you what works and what doesn’t and your imagination does the rest. I recreated the entrance of my zoo several times and it never felt like a chore. The developer put a lot of thought and work into making sure you can change things easily.

The only interruption that has popped up in my 40+ hours of gaming was I noticed a bug that only started occurring late game where I kept getting a notification that one of my enclosures was blocked, and when I finally gave up on trying to fix it and delete it, a different enclosure started getting flagged. Once I restarted the game, the problem seemed to resolve.

Looks good on paper

The 2D sprites have charm and are simplistic, but still manage to convey your visitors, animals, and attractions. There’s an incredible amount of scenery to decorate your park and zooming out to see how your zoo operates is always interesting to do. The menus are easy to navigate, and the data is laid out right before you to make your zoo the best (or worst) it can be. There is some slowdown on the Switch version of the game when zoomed out, but you can reduce the number of alerts and popups which help keep things under control.

As mentioned before, the morality system and ways you can build a zoo certainly add to the replay value and the game definitely deserves a second playthrough to see how the other half lives. The Dinosaur Island expansion adds all-new amazing attractions and creatures and you can live out your best Jurassic Park manager life if you please.

Closing time

Let’s Build a Zoo is a fantastic gem of a game that provides hours of polished gameplay, unique and interesting mechanics, and depth that will keep you coming back for more. Coupled with the Dinosaur Island Expansion, Let’s Build a Zoo is a very complete package that is worthy of your time and with its exceptional price point (even when not on sale) is definitely a great investment. I would highly recommend Let’s Build a Zoo to anyone looking for something a little bit different that they can sink their teeth into. What an absolute gem.

What’s it like?

A blend of “Stardew Valley” and “Two Point Hospital.”