Zoo Time

TheAwakening
Jul 15
2 min read

Updated: Jul 19

Overview

Someone has to take care of those zoo animals. That could be you! In Zoo Time, you and your friends are hired for the ultimate job: clean, feed, and make sure the balloon-easy-to-handle inhabitants have a wonderful time. Several difficult options can make things more chaotic if you think you are fast enough.

Gameplay

You may play with a controller, but a keyboard is supported too. You start selecting what difficult is up to your skills. From easiest to hardest, tasks have no time limit to very little time upkeep, animals can be peaceful or make more disasters, and there can be less space in the level to maneuver faster against the clock. If the difficulty is higher, there will be an extra random task it might trigger as well.

The everyday routine is simple to follow. It begins with bringing the animals out to their respective habitats, then the tasks start to flow. Serving the food correctly, washing over, exercises, and taking proper care are just many of the tasks that pop randomly through the level. If the timer runs out for a task, we simply get a lower score towards the end of the day.

Tasks must follow common sense; an animal cannot eat their meals if they are outside their fence. By the end of the day, we have to bring all the animals back to the stables. Three balloons are the highest score for an honest work.

Of course there are the occasional hazards placed throughout the zoo, depending on the difficulty we are playing. From animal wastes to garbage and visitors walking through, stepping on a banana peel will stun us, so we must dodge these hazards to our best. To move at a fast pace, we can dash and also throw the animals towards their habitats or to their required objective (they are all balloons for a reason).

Playing alone or with friends does not make things any more difficult, so the more workers at the zoo, the better! You can check the level score and see how well you are doing.

Audio & Visuals

You can expect jazzy tones playing anywhere through the game. All animals have physics (plus they look very cute), even the workers hands that flail around like noodles. Visitors will surely remind you of another famous game; they are all dressed casually, walking through the level. The UI looks cozy, like it’s a party; even the random animal that floats next to the level menu is cute. When a level is finished, all the players can have a bit of fun with the props until it's time for the next level, which I found hilarious.