Zoo Tycoon Reviews

Zoo Tycoon is ranked in the 37th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8.5 / 10.0
Nov 17, 2013

Frontier Developments' park sim is gorgeous, does a fine job exploiting Kinect, and is surprisingly fun regardless of age.

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Polygon
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Nov 17, 2013

Zoo Tycoon overcomes some small issues with charm and a good heart

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8 / 10.0
Dec 2, 2013

You can take a certain hypnotic bliss from simply working along calmly and peacefully, making sure that your park is running as smoothly as it can and improving the conditions for your ever-growing menagerie of creatures. This game was never going to be he bombastic launch title that blows the minds of gamers. Zoo Tycoon is a different pace of game for a different type of player. With the Xbox One Microsoft are looking to create a device that provides all forms of entertainment, for everyone, and a game like Zoo Tycoon certainly shows their commitment to creating a broad base. It may ultimately be a little shallow, but it has bags of charm and there is more than enough on offer here to provide hours of animal magic.

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Nov 21, 2013

The game struggles a little over the mid-to-long term: the difficulty doesn't fluctuate much and, soon enough, you're merely turning the cogs rather than responding to thrilling challenges, but Zoo Tycoon is pleasant and engaging, even in its absence of spectacle.

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8 / 10.0
Dec 7, 2013

Zoo Tycoon is engaging, rewarding, and fun, just don't burn yourself out on it too quickly. It isn't so much for the hardcore sim manager, but for those not looking for a tremendous amount of depth, there's a lot to like with what Frontier offers.

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NZGamer
Top Critic
7.9 / 10.0
Nov 24, 2013

A simulation game fan looking for a hardcore micromanaging experience might want to look elsewhere, but for anyone else, Zoo Tycoon offers a whole lot of fun - with an important and oft neglected side dish of education and awareness raising.

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7.5 / 10.0
Nov 21, 2013

Zoo Tycoon has a distinct lack of depth, but if you're capable of sitting down with this simplistic simulator, you'll smile more times than you can count. The simulator fan in me was a bit disappointed by the ease of it all, but the child in me couldn't help but enjoy myself.

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75%
Nov 17, 2013

Zoo Tycoon's biggest crime is its lack of ambition. With all the power behind it and a renowned sim-orientated brand, it's as if family specialists, Frontier, wasn't sure which crowd to cater too. Despite that, the pseudo-deep sim game is feature-heavy and an ultimately enjoyable ride.

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3.8 / 5.0
Dec 8, 2013

Zoo Tycoon is definitely a family friend game that can be played by all ages. Younger gamers will definitely get a kick out of designing their own zoos and engaging in the mini-games. Whereas older players will enjoy the challenge mode which does up the difficulty level of the game as you attempt to make a profitable, education and fun zoo for everyone.

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7 / 10
Nov 26, 2013

There's huge satisfaction to be had from building your zoo, observing the animals and watching all the graphs go up. It's just a shame that over time, as the novelties wear off, the lack of depth makes it hard to keep coming back. But who knows? Perhaps a future update will introduce monkey butlers.

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Dec 9, 2013

Zoos are special and Zoo Tycoon captures that nicely. The sometimes disappointing limitations and even the dreadful menus don't take away enough from the overall package to prevent it from earning a recommendation, particularly for animal lovers and families.

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7 / 10.0
Dec 3, 2013

Building your zoo offers fun moments, but doesn't have any depth or reasons to try different approaches

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7 / 10
Nov 17, 2013

Frontier Developments caught my attention with a game that promised "Tycoon" style sim management and, yes, the ability to play with adorable animals. What I didn't expect was how deep and satisfying the sim would be.

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Dec 15, 2013

A rewarding business simulation for all types of players, though one that eventually boxes in the player a little too much.

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70 / 100
Dec 10, 2013

After playing Zoo Tycoon I have to admit that it is quite time consuming, has a long learning curve and is more ideal on a PC platform compared to a console experience. That being said, it is a game that provides a robust zoo experience perfect for any zoo enthusiast, a veteran "sim" player, or perhaps even for a parent looking for a game without any violence whatsoever.

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7 / 10.0
Nov 26, 2013

... Zoo Tycoon is an addictive effort that rides in with just enough content for a good play.

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7 / 10.0
Dec 4, 2013

The good ideas in Zoo Tycoon aren't developed far enough to warrant top marks, but Frontier Developments have delivered a capable game that will delight gamers of all ages.

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EGM
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Nov 25, 2013

From a mechanical standpoint, Zoo Tycoon works quite smoothly, but a ridiculously low agent cap severely detracts from the game's longevity.

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7 / 10.0
Dec 16, 2013

Cutesy, zoo management sim is let loose on the new Xbox One

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3.5 / 5.0
Dec 1, 2013

Zoo Tycoon may be one of the lesser known Xbox One titles, but it's not one of the lesser quality ones. With four modes, a deep interface and multiple activities, it's clear that a lot of effort went into its development.

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