Customer Reviews
My son LOVES it! 
2008-03-10
My son begged us to buy this, and when he had saved up his allowance we ordered it for him. He loves it and has so much fun building his zoo exhibits. I would recommend this to anyone!
Infinite Zoo Fun 2008-02-24
We purchased the complete set with Dino Digs, Marine Mania, and Zoo Tycoon. The game plays without a glitch, no system crashes in months of play. My kids, 8 and 6, absolutely love this game. We are not big fans of computer games and are careful in selecting games that allow the kids to THINK while they play, not just react to the screen. This game sparks the imagination in new ways. Good for spatial reasoning, logic, creativity, the concept of research, cause and effect. You start with an environment (i.e. desert, ice, grass, city...) then create a zoo. You build animal enclosures - selecting the type of fence, the terrain, the grasses, trees, rocks, animals. Within the game you can research what habitat each animal likes. You hire employees to care for the animals and the zoo, add refreshment stands, make gardens and play areas, build paths around the zoo, add benches. Once you have some animals, guests start to visit. You can easily monitor guest and animal happiness visually, and a friendly zookeeper provides written advice regarding how to make each animal habitat more appropriate for the animals. My 8 yr old can understand all aspects of the zoo. My early 6 yr old can accomplish almost everything but needs help in reading the zookeeper advice. The game is highly intuitive. The interactive tutorials were sufficient for the 8 yr old to start playing. At a macro level, you can determine where you are on a reference map, change the angle of view, and zoom in or out. There are so many options within the game to keep it fun and interesting for a long time. Be aware that you may need to limit play time because you can play for hours. My husband and I love it too. This is a great investment, a good solid game for kids 6+. Older 5 yr olds may enjoy it with some help.
Awesome Zoo Construction 2008-02-13
This is a great "game"-my 8 year old loves animals and this game is furthering her knowledge on animals and helping her broaden her horizons in habitate construction, caring for the sick, hiring, firing, taking care of her guest-and managing money--i couldn't ask for better quality time spent "playing" on the computer!!
What a zoo!!! 
2008-02-11
My kids from 6 to 16 love this game. I even got intrigued by it as well.
a fun and exciting game 2008-01-02
This game is very fun. Managing money is trickier than in some of the other games zoo tycoon games, but not so easy that your money is unlimited.
Creating the landscape of the zoo is just the beginning. Adding animals to your zoo takes alot of work in the beginning because you have to satisfy the animals needs like terrain, trees and rocks, space, and how much of the same species the animal wants in its exhibit. You can hire maintnence workers to fix the fences so the animals wont escape. Zookeepers feed and heal animals.
In Marine Mania, marine specialists do the same thing as zookeepers do, but the also clean tanks. Dinasoar Digs works the same way, but scientists help the egg hatch and such.
As your zoo gets better, new animals and items can be unlocked. You can have a better veriety of show animals, or more tricks avalibe and more toys.
Your zoo population will increase, so many more guests will come. You have to put plenty of garbage cans neer food and drink stands, as well as family restrooms and many benches and picnick tables. This can be VERY overwhelming, so you can create an aria for guests neer your exhibits.
I recomend this game to anyone that is up to caring for animals as well as guest needs. This game is one of the most fun tycoon games i have ever played!!!:)
Zoo Tycoon is the best game EVER!!! 2008-06-26
I love Zoo Tycoon I play it all the time!!I really like the Kids Zoo in this game because everything's availible and you won't run out of money. When I play this game I always pick out my favorite animals. They are in Zoo Tycoon: the Gray Wolf, the Grizzly and Polar Bears, the Spotted Hyena, the Saltwater Crocodile, The Red Kangaroo, the Giant Anteater, and the Siberian Tiger. In Marine Mania: the Bottlenosed Dolphin, the Orca, the Great White Shark, the Green Sea Turtle, the Califorina Sea Lion (even though they're on Zoo Tycoon they can also be on Marine Mania), the Southern Sea Otter, the Pacfic Walrus, and the Humpback Whale (can you imagine a Humpback Whale in a REAL aquarium!?). And for Dinosaur Digs: the Velociraptor and the Tyrannosaurs Rex. All in all one of the best games i've ever come across. Just don't let your animals escape unless you love to see your guests flee in fear and get eaten!
Zoo Tycoon is my Favorite! 2008-06-19
Zoo Tycoon is one of my favorite computer games. I have Zoo Tycoon 2 also, but
I prefer this version. Zoo Tycoon has worked very well on our computer,
although it is a bit slow when loading. Now for some info on the game. There
are three types of games to play. Tutorials, scenarios, and free-form games. I
recommend that you play the tutorials first to get used to the game. Then you
should play a free-form game to get used to owning a zoo before you take on the
scenarios. Some scenarios are very hard, some are not hard at all. On some
scenarios you have a certain amount of months to achieve the goals that you have
to do, and some are not timed. Different scenarios have different amounts of
money to start off with. All modes of play have money, even free-form.
If you decide to play free-form you will get to choose your favorite zoo. There
are tons of zoos to choose from. The zoos come in different sizes. Some zoos
come in all sizes. If you are a beginner, I recommend to get a small, plain
zoo. Those types of zoos are a lot easier to manage.
Once you get a zoo you will find a big area of land. Near the front there is
usually a few decorations and a little path. Usually there will be some plants
and rocks scattered around the zoo. To start making exhibits, see what kind of
animal you want. Leopards and big cats are hard, while anteaters, komodo
dragons, and Thompson gazelles are easier. Then you will need to pick your
fence. Iron bar fence is excellent. Animals can't climb through it or climb up
it unless it breaks. Click and drag the fence until you get the space you want.
Then name the exhibit. If you want, just leave the name of the exhibit as
"Exhibit 1".
Once you get your animal in the exhibit, click on the animal and click on the
button with the picture of a zookeeper. There the animals needs are displayed.
For example it might say " African Warthog 1 does not like the cat climbing
tree" or "Clouded Leopard 2 would like to have some fun and would like a toy".
The tutorials will show you everything you need to know about making exhibits,
caring for animals, and the rest of the stuff you need to know about Zoo Tycoon.
I'm a nine-year old girl and have spent some time building lots of cool exhibits. All in all, this game is very good. I would recommend it for ages 6 and up. As long as you do the tutorials you should be making expert zoos in a flash!
Zoo Tycoon 2008-06-18
Both my son(8) and daughter (6) love it. He is a big dinosaur fan so being able to make a zoo our of dinosaurs made him happy. Also, the onscreen text prompts and advice encourages reading which I am all for.
So much fun! 2008-05-31
And I've learned so much about animals that I didn't know before. We first owned Rollercoaster Tycoon and I loved that game. I enjoy the zoo game even more. There are a few glitches, but they're minor. The scenario games are a blast!
Much better than many other video games 2008-04-10
We bought this for my 6 year old son. We own EVERY Zoo Tycoon product there is! My son is obsessed with animals so this game is great for him. More importantly as a parent, I'm not crazy with my child being on a computer for long periods of time, but this game is very educational. He learns all about building different types of exhibits, what the animals eat, the natural habitat they live in - all good stuff and he just can't seem to get enough of these games. And if he's going to be playing video games I'd rather he's playing one of his Zoo Tycoon games rather than playing another game where he is kicking, punching, or shooting something.
