Planet Zoo

 PC
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 140 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 108 out of 140
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 140
  3. Negative: 17 out of 140

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  1. C4rn4ge
    Nov 16, 2019
    9
    Graphics: 7.5/10 (animals and persons sometimes stuck in objects, texture resolution is not that good)

    Gameplay: 9/10 (economy is really simple)

    Performance: 7/10 (sometimes crashes)

    Playtime: endless
    Summary: 8.5/10 -> recommended and worth full price
  2. BikiniBodhi
    Nov 13, 2019
    9
    This brings me back to my childhood playing the old Zoo Tycoon games, I am however missing some key features like playing as the Zoo Keeper and I also experienced a game breaking bug where my keepers wouldnt feed my flamingos... causing them to die.
  3. rainey06au
    Nov 16, 2019
    10
    A beautifully crafted Zoo management masterpiece. Yet another magnificent game by Frontier to perfectly compliment Planet Coaster. Highly recommended for those who like to be creative and enjoy the management aspects of sim games.
  4. Timo30
    Nov 9, 2019
    10
    If you like tycoons and animals this is game for you. It is a little bit complex to manage a zoo but if you played Planet Coaster then it is easier than playing it without some previous experience. So if you don't know what to play then this game is made for you :D
  5. andreandrade
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    Absolutamente fantástico. Imperdível, até para quem não gosta do estilo. Detalhado, lindo, absolutamente customizável e muito, muito divertido. O melhor jogo do gênero de gerenciamento que já joguei, e joguei muitos.
  6. aberro
    Mar 22, 2021
    5
    A game for one or two evenings, after that it's only like simplified wiki and tons of micromanagement. Despite being related to tycoon games, this is not a tycoon, because it lacks any challenge at all. You don't have enough money? Loan. You don't have enough visitors? Expand. Your visitors don't like facilities? Drop any random stuff around. Employees are almost always either happy, orA game for one or two evenings, after that it's only like simplified wiki and tons of micromanagement. Despite being related to tycoon games, this is not a tycoon, because it lacks any challenge at all. You don't have enough money? Loan. You don't have enough visitors? Expand. Your visitors don't like facilities? Drop any random stuff around. Employees are almost always either happy, or overloaded to the point of absurd when they don't have time for almost anything, guests say when tickets are over or underpriced, research and stuff levelling is just one click. There's a tons of features each and every one of which is shallow as splash. And all management here is worst kind: micromanagement. Unpause for a few seconds, pause, check all habitats, separate young adults (sell/release/move), rinse and repeat.
    This is not a tycoon, it's more like some kind of sandbox where you could set unlimited money and build zoo as you want it.
    And I've played it at max difficulty, but it's really boring, repetitive and not challenging at all.

    Though, it may be okayish for casual players, who get used to repetitive actions, kinda "cute" graphics, lack of challenge and complexity (but, yet again, this game has too much game mechanics quantitatively for casual gamers).
    But if you're old gamer who get used to play really hard tycoons and simulators like me, then this game is not for you.    … Expand
  7. Yuvalito
    Jul 27, 2020
    6
    As Zoo Tycoon 2 was my favorite game as a child, this was probably my most anticipated game of last year, and I pre-ordered the deluxe edition. unfortunately, the great graphics and adorable animals do not make up for the hellishly frustrating building system and the constant workflow interruptions by annoying chores.
    The game did become better with patches, but it still has a long way to    As Zoo Tycoon 2 was my favorite game as a child, this was probably my most anticipated game of last year, and I pre-ordered the deluxe edition. unfortunately, the great graphics and adorable animals do not make up for the hellishly frustrating building system and the constant workflow interruptions by annoying chores.
    The game did become better with patches, but it still has a long way to go to be the experience of my dreams, which is a shame considering it has many good things going for it.    … Expand
  8. SammyDelicious
    Aug 20, 2020
    1
    I am very disappointed with the DLC releases (specifically charging 10$ (USD) for each DLC to only include 3-4 new habitat animals). I made a frontier forums account to post my comment, but despite following the regulations on the forum, frontier developments will not allow me to post criticism about the price. That made me feel like my opinion doesn't matter to frontier.

    So instead of    I am very disappointed with the DLC releases (specifically charging 10$ (USD) for each DLC to only include 3-4 new habitat animals). I made a frontier forums account to post my comment, but despite following the regulations on the forum, frontier developments will not allow me to post criticism about the price. That made me feel like my opinion doesn't matter to frontier.

    So instead of posting on Frontier Developments private forums where they delete my messages, I'm going to use metacritic, to allow me to voice my opinion. Thank God for metacritic!


    I paid 45$ (usd) for Planet Zoo. It comes with 76 animals, and hundreds of pieces of scenary and building materials, it is a full game. It is a visually stunning zoo simulation.

    Unfortunately, there are numerous issues people experience with this game, for proof just google issues such as animal deaths, zookeepers not feeding animals or getting stuck, path systems being broken, or frame rate issues.

    4 DLC's have been confirmed: Deluxe,South America,Arctic and Australia pack. All of them combined offer 17 animals and cost 40$ (USD).

    Why did Frontier Developments feel the need to censor me, I hope this review is seem by more people than their forums now.

    45$ (USD)= 76 animals, scenary and a game
    40$ + tax (USD)= 17 animals/scenary    … Expand
  9. Nieogolony
    Nov 5, 2019
    10
    Okay so what to begin with... Oh man this game is so great. I was playing with my gf during beta and i thought that the game had so large content already and yet they managed to give much more content for the premiere. I wont spoiler anything and I suggest not to look up any lists of animals because you will discover them alone and wont be dissapointed. Cheers from Poland
  10. Themos
    Nov 12, 2019
    0
    placing paths is one of the most frustrating things that I have ever come up with in video games its so damn awful that it makes you want to kill yourself, you can't even place big square areas. same goes for building buildings even though you can make nice looking things its very time consuming and fixing little things is immensely frustrating. and top that there are constant crashesplacing paths is one of the most frustrating things that I have ever come up with in video games its so damn awful that it makes you want to kill yourself, you can't even place big square areas. same goes for building buildings even though you can make nice looking things its very time consuming and fixing little things is immensely frustrating. and top that there are constant crashes when starting the game
    or when you enter main menu.    … Expand
  11. isaacboyyy
    Nov 6, 2019
    9
    After 30 hours of gameplay I can definitely say this game is one of my all time favorites. I know that with how Frontier is with their game franchises, how they nurture and grow them with updates and new content, we'll hopefully be in good hands. The animals are beautiful, and the management is tricky. It is so much fun to create a habitat, or a new part of your zoo. Excited to see whatAfter 30 hours of gameplay I can definitely say this game is one of my all time favorites. I know that with how Frontier is with their game franchises, how they nurture and grow them with updates and new content, we'll hopefully be in good hands. The animals are beautiful, and the management is tricky. It is so much fun to create a habitat, or a new part of your zoo. Excited to see what the future holds for this game!… Expand
  12. DonRoger
    Nov 5, 2019
    10
    Good geme, there are some big bus but other than that is a great game, 10 of 10.
  13. Mipje
    Nov 5, 2019
    1
    Utterly Unplayable! Do Not Buy! This game had some potential, for example the breeding programs (that's it basically). If it wasn't for the utterly terrible way of placement of -everything- in the game. Building walls becomes an absolute annoyance, want to change that wall? Good luck brotha, select each piece by piece at a time. Can't select the entire enclosure! ant to place anUtterly Unplayable! Do Not Buy! This game had some potential, for example the breeding programs (that's it basically). If it wasn't for the utterly terrible way of placement of -everything- in the game. Building walls becomes an absolute annoyance, want to change that wall? Good luck brotha, select each piece by piece at a time. Can't select the entire enclosure! ant to place an information stand on top of an heightened path? BOOM it floats in the air now, good luck with that! Every single placement of an object, wall, plant and everything else becomes a burden and an annoyance. And selecting stuff, please don't start. Unbelievable. No possibilities for a power grid. So that is a generator every 500m. in your zoo. Same for the water purification. Not so many animals to get, pay 10 bucks for 3 more... wtf? I just can't stop complaining :/. I've never felt this wat before!

    Not to mention the bugs. Demanding for a refund.

    I have never written a review before and i've been gaming for 30 years. It's that bad!    … Expand
  14. chickenboh
    Nov 26, 2019
    0
    game is unplayable at this point, it crashes literally everywhere, career mode is not working at all, save states break, i don't recommend it as for now, I myself actually had to ask for refund.
  15. touchofheaven
    Jun 30, 2020
    9
    Замечательная игра, может затянуть на несколько десятков часов если вы хоть немного любите животных. Достаточное количество разнообразных видов животных, множество инструментов для воплощения своих фантазий в плане создания зоопарка мечте. Лучшая игра в жанре.Замечательная игра, может затянуть на несколько десятков часов если вы хоть немного любите животных. Достаточное количество разнообразных видов животных, множество инструментов для воплощения своих фантазий в плане создания зоопарка мечте. Лучшая игра в жанре.
  16. AlfredTButler
    Nov 5, 2019
    9
    I really loved planet coaster and yet again Frontier made a lovely simulation. The Animals and the world around them are beautiful and the simulation is really complex and is going to take a while to get just right. Planet Zoo isn't as casual as Planet Coaster so keep that in mind. I haven't had any bugs or crashes like other people here. Maybe its because of better hardware? And i do notI really loved planet coaster and yet again Frontier made a lovely simulation. The Animals and the world around them are beautiful and the simulation is really complex and is going to take a while to get just right. Planet Zoo isn't as casual as Planet Coaster so keep that in mind. I haven't had any bugs or crashes like other people here. Maybe its because of better hardware? And i do not understand a 1 Star rating if you don't like it it does not mean its utter garbage! For People who like good Simulations and beautiful animals go ahead, you won't regret the purchase!… Expand
  17. kuehnau
    Jan 23, 2021
    4
    I'm a big fan of simulation games, grew up with classics like Sim City and Sim Ant. I also really enjyed the Roller Coaster Tycoon series.

    I saw some people playing this on YouTube and decided to give it a go. When I first tried playing it, in less than an hour I was asking for a refund because of how bad the controls are. If you have never played a [Planet] game before, you'd have    I'm a big fan of simulation games, grew up with classics like Sim City and Sim Ant. I also really enjyed the Roller Coaster Tycoon series.

    I saw some people playing this on YouTube and decided to give it a go.

    When I first tried playing it, in less than an hour I was asking for a refund because of how bad the controls are. If you have never played a [Planet] game before, you'd have no idea going in what you are in store for. And none of the videos I saw actually said anything about how bad the interface is.

    As I was waiting for my refund, I decided to watch some other videos on Planet Zoo. I stumbled upon a video of a guy making buildings and he was explaining how the building works and using examples, he was showing how to line stuff up and use the gride system.

    I ended up going back to Planet Zoo and after a lot of work, I started to get the hang of it. And while I am now managing to play the game (somewhat), my opinion is that even after taking hours to learn what Planet Zoo expects from me, the controls are still terrible.

    Even after taking the time to learn how the game controls and how building works, I feel like the game is constantly working against me every step of the way. I cannot tell you how many zoos I started as I tried to figure out what the hell was going on.

    A good example is how someone gave me a tip on using walls early on to square off my property so that it'll be easier later on to have a zoo that is aligned up with a grid (more or less). I spend all this time messing around with the game's terrible mapping and building system, finally start to get a halfway decent zoo going on, and then when I go to create a path moving past the side of a animal habitat, it refuses to allow me to place the path down that way.

    There's nothing in the way, there's plenty of room between the habitat and the path, the ground is nice and even, I cannot find ANYTHING wrong with where I want to to place my path and yet this game refuses to do it. Yes, the ground level option is off.

    Planet Zoo is a fantastic game that is completely crippled by their overly complicated, user aggressive controls and building system. New players are warned there is a huge learning curve to the game.    … Expand
  18. lightyears
    Jan 9, 2023
    8
    It looks based on planet coaster. But it is a good game. Graphics are impressive. Nice animal behaviour. Enough possibilities and animals. A weak point are the unrealistic expensive add on packages.
  19. VegasKeVa
    Jan 2, 2020
    0
    I played 90 minutes and most of that was waiting for the tutorial to deliver my tigers. It never happened so I requested refund. I tried a suggested fix (deleting a rock?!) but that didn't work. If the tutorial doesn't work I have no hope for the rest of the game.
  20. AllNewSuperfake
    Sep 27, 2020
    5
    Updated review after patches:+4

    First off a warning: You should really switch off the character's voices, especially the constant laughter about their own jokes. I played two tutorial missions and was found naked and crying somewhere 120 miles away from home, that's how stupid they are. Compared with other zoo management games, especially from older generations, Planet Zoo completely    Updated review after patches:+4

    First off a warning: You should really switch off the character's voices, especially the constant laughter about their own jokes. I played two tutorial missions and was found naked and crying somewhere 120 miles away from home, that's how stupid they are.

    Compared with other zoo management games, especially from older generations, Planet Zoo completely fails to impress me. While it is very nice to look at when it comes to graphics and animations, in the end it was the lazyness of the whole thing that stood out to me.

    It reuses so many assets and mechanics - including the faulty ones - from Planet Coaster that it should have been a DLC for that game. Building pathways as well as buildings is as fiddly as ever, and half of the time you will fight the camera on top of that. The staff is barely functional by now, but you will still need six keepers per animal to not have dozens of warnings and alerts flashing on the side at all times.

    It's really keen on letting you know everything that goes wrong, important or not, including absurd alarms like "Low on cash". Not only is another distracting element in the already convoluted UI, since you can't really direct the priorities it makes the whole warning system useless. When clicking on one of those warnings it will change into one of it's several overview modes so that you can hardly make out details and have to switch back to building mode, having the screen go pitch black every single time.

    Overall it fails to make it's animals the stars. Watching them can be nice, but most of the time their pathfinding glitches out and let's them "swim" over the scenery. Except when they are swimming, then they are walking on the ground, even if it's way too deep. Birds don't lay eggs, pregnancies are not visible, and I really wonder why most of the work seems to have gone into the process of pooping. There are just too many weaknesses in the basic game design to make this more than a very average game.    … Expand
  21. Mister_Jey
    Jan 12, 2021
    9
    → Y a-t-il des singes dans votre parc ?
    Planet Zoo est un jeu de gestion absolument génial. Les animaux sont criant de réalisme, notamment dans leurs animations. À préciser cependant une baisse de FPS importante lorsque votre parc commence à avoir beaucoup de visiteurs, donc attention. Au départ, il demandera un peu de temps pour le prendre en main au niveau des outils de création, mais    → Y a-t-il des singes dans votre parc ?
    Planet Zoo est un jeu de gestion absolument génial. Les animaux sont criant de réalisme, notamment dans leurs animations. À préciser cependant une baisse de FPS importante lorsque votre parc commence à avoir beaucoup de visiteurs, donc attention. Au départ, il demandera un peu de temps pour le prendre en main au niveau des outils de création, mais une fois fait c'est un régal. Pour ceux qui ne se sentent pas capables de faire de belles constructions, il en existe des magnifiques à télécharger dans le workshop de Steam. Je ne peux que le recommander fortement, ne serait-ce que pour regarder les animaux dans leurs enclos, où se concentrer sur l'amélioration et l'optimisation de son zoo.

    Sortie en novembre 2019 / Développé par Frontier (RollerCoaster, Jurassic World Evolution).    … Expand
  22. majesticsquid
    Apr 19, 2020
    1
    I want to like this game. Heck I want to LOVE this game so much. But this game is just not fun. It is frustrating. Every. Single. Aspect. It's a clunky, glitchy mess, and although this concept is perfect... it is not executed in any way close to a playable or fun game. If you have a great graphics card (and I mean state of the line brand new, AND an awesome computer powerful enough to runI want to like this game. Heck I want to LOVE this game so much. But this game is just not fun. It is frustrating. Every. Single. Aspect. It's a clunky, glitchy mess, and although this concept is perfect... it is not executed in any way close to a playable or fun game. If you have a great graphics card (and I mean state of the line brand new, AND an awesome computer powerful enough to run this game) then visually it is stunning! However, the glitches in the game still remain and the path laying system well... (just don't even get me started, I recommend googling "paths planet zoo broken" to get a good idea of how tortuous and painful this game actually is). There's a lot of problems about the path system.


    The DLC is also a sham. For example the second dlc pack (arctic dlc) had only four animals in it and cost over $15 canadian. The first dlc pack was $13 canadian dollars (for three animals). Do the conversions yourself, in any currency it's a slap in the face rip off!

    So in summary, 10/10 concept.
    And 1/10 gameplay and fun factor.


    If you like setting paths that don't work and frustrating learning curves all set in a gorgeous world (pending you have an expensive computer) you will absolutely adore this game.

    Final verdict, a visually stunning, but ultimately unplayable game. Unfortunately very reminiscent of Zoo Tycoon for xbox 360.    … Expand
  23. KaBob
    Nov 16, 2022
    3
    It's a decent looking game, it just sucks that the gameplay itself is inferior in every way to the 20 year old Zoo Tycoon. DLC is ridiculously overpriced and simple tasks like placing paths or prebuilt exhibits are a huge chore.

    When I play a zoo game, I want to make as many different animal exhibits as possible. Not spend an hour fighting terrain elevation issues and etc just to make    It's a decent looking game, it just sucks that the gameplay itself is inferior in every way to the 20 year old Zoo Tycoon. DLC is ridiculously overpriced and simple tasks like placing paths or prebuilt exhibits are a huge chore.

    When I play a zoo game, I want to make as many different animal exhibits as possible. Not spend an hour fighting terrain elevation issues and etc just to make one basic exhibit. Grid based placement systems might be very limiting but they are preferable to this game.    … Expand
  24. Steelstruck
    Jun 9, 2021
    9
    The game is very fun, and I believe anyone who likes management sims (or not maybe) will thoroughly enjoy this game. One of my favorite parts is that each animal feels so unique not just in their needs but in their behavior and animations as well. It's also quite good fun to meticulously plan out your zoos layout to be conducive to good foot traffic, as well as to take hours to buildThe game is very fun, and I believe anyone who likes management sims (or not maybe) will thoroughly enjoy this game. One of my favorite parts is that each animal feels so unique not just in their needs but in their behavior and animations as well. It's also quite good fun to meticulously plan out your zoos layout to be conducive to good foot traffic, as well as to take hours to build gorgeous habitats for your animals that seem like something that would be in an actual zoo. I found that medium in franchise mode is a good difficulty level and I have no problem keeping my zoo afloat. My only complaints are that some of the animals in the DLC should have been in the main game but were probably planned to be dlc during the main game's development and whenever you get disconnected during franchise even just for a second you get immediately booted back to the main menu (the game saves for you when this happens) and then you have to reconnect and reload your whole game which with a larger zoo can take minutes, so maybe don't play franchise mode if you have spotty internet.… Expand
  25. Mangoturtle
    Dec 1, 2020
    9
    Best Zoo/sandbox game out there! the staff can be a little janky at times but other than that one of my absolute favorite games!
  26. The_Sifi_Turtle
    Dec 5, 2020
    9
    The gameplay and animals for this game are very nice and unique. Throw some great music in there and you've got planet zoo.

    Highly Recommended (even at full price).
  27. RedSiskin
    Jan 11, 2021
    0
    the game working horribly on Intel Cpu's i am getting only 14 FPS and the developers delete any bug report related to the fps issue instead of working on a fix ! dont buy this game if you have Intel.
  28. Adriarro
    Nov 7, 2021
    8
    That game has everything it should have. I don't know what else should be added. Only new animals and buildings are in my mind.
  29. elefsar
    Apr 29, 2021
    8
    Gayet güzel bir oyun, başlarda biraz zorluyor ama. Atmosfer, grafikler ve oynayış güzel. Hikaye yok tabi.
  30. Rnoviok
    Dec 4, 2021
    7
    In the game you can play the campaign, test yourself in timed challenges or build your dream zoo in Franchise or Sandbox mode
  31. bjar5232
    Mar 9, 2022
    9
    I have been playing this game for almost 2 years now and this is probably my favorite tycoon game ever, just watching your zoo grow and seeing your animals thrive is incredibly entertaining, there isn't a whole lot to talk about when it comes to negatives, the only things i could really say are bad is the franchise mode mostly because the online economy is absolutely busted, but other thanI have been playing this game for almost 2 years now and this is probably my favorite tycoon game ever, just watching your zoo grow and seeing your animals thrive is incredibly entertaining, there isn't a whole lot to talk about when it comes to negatives, the only things i could really say are bad is the franchise mode mostly because the online economy is absolutely busted, but other than that it's a great game!… Expand
  32. ProtoPretender
    Jan 2, 2023
    3
    Not impressed. I have no idea but I for whatever reason bought this game for way more than it deserved when it's really a 50-65 dollar game at best. It was reasonably fun but I was very disappointed with the amount of DLC I was expected to purchase. It says Planet Zoo on the title, not Specific areas of the planet with only a select number of animal species planet. I'm not buying DLC toNot impressed. I have no idea but I for whatever reason bought this game for way more than it deserved when it's really a 50-65 dollar game at best. It was reasonably fun but I was very disappointed with the amount of DLC I was expected to purchase. It says Planet Zoo on the title, not Specific areas of the planet with only a select number of animal species planet. I'm not buying DLC to mess around with penguins… Expand

Awards & Rankings

64
#64 Best PC Game of 2019
90
#90 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 55 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 51 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 55
  3. Negative: 0 out of 55
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 28, 2020
    80
    Planet Zoo is a great journey to the world of exotic animals, kept in captivity for the eyes of others. It is a complex, generous and beautiful game with lots of interesting ideas. The tax for its generosity is bad controls and higher hardware requirements. [Issue#300]
  2. Trusted Reviews
    Feb 11, 2020
    80
    Planet Zoo is a fantastic zoo management game that I wholeheartedly recommend, whether you’re looking for some Zoo Tycoon nostalgia kicks, or simply love animals. It’s admittedly not a massive leap forward from previous zoo games, but the conservation focus and gorgeous visual polish revitalises the genre for modern audiences.
    Read full review
  3. CD-Action
    Jan 10, 2020
    85
    I played the game almost non-stop for several days and I feared that after this kind of marathon I will forever hate it but it didn’t happen. Planet Zoo educates and entertains – in marvellous scenery to boot. [01/2020, p.62]
See all critic reviews »