Developer Springloaded released their pixel graphic zoo simulator and park creatorLet’s Build a Zooearlier in November, letting players live out their zoo fantasies just in time for the holidays. Theindie gamehas garnered very positive reviews on Steam, with players praising its surprisingly wicked sense of humor and fun mechanics. Players who enjoy building the ideal farm inStardew Valley, or ambitious creations inMinecraftmay want to take a look atLet’s Build a Zooeven if they have little interest in simulation titles, thanks to the title’s multitude of customization options.
Even thoughLet’s Build a Zoois a robust sim that covers many aspects of zoo building and management, it also features a number of absurd scenarios underpinned byan unusual morality system, and a touch of whimsy in the form of a DNA splicing system that allows players to create hybrid animals. James Barnard, Springloaded’s lead developer, has been delighted by the game’s reception to date and spoke with Game Rant about the unique mechanics that make the title tick.
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Upgrade As You Please
Let’s Build a Zoohas an expansive research grid and customization system. It is so large, in fact, that Barnard can’t keep track of the precise number of unlocks and options players can use. Like most management and building sims, players can steadily upgrade their facilities to draw greater crowds to their zoo. But Barnard was wary of present players withoptimal upgradesthat outclass others, as such systems strike him as deterministic rather than expressive.
“One approach, when people think about builders, is that some things are worth more points than others. Like, you’re able to put this tree down for $100 dollars and you get 200 deco-points, but if you buy a $300 tree instead, you get 500 deco-points. I really hate that approach in design, because it takes away from creativity.”
When mechanical benefits are married to aesthetic choices, players are less likely to experiment because there is a single, correct answer in terms of optimization. A similar conflict arises in MMOs and RPGs where armor and weapons with superior stats cramp a player’s desired style. Many of thesegames have robust customization systemsin the form of cosmetic masking or glamour systems, but Barnard takes a different approach. Rather than featuring an “ultimate tree,” unlocking a new type of tree will improve “the power” of every tree in a single zoo. The goal is to provide players with flexibility in their desire to design, while rewarding progress throughout the research grid.
The Splice of Life
One of the most novel features inLet’s Build a Zoois the ability to create animal fusions through the magic of genetic engineering. The potentially addictive collection element of the game isn’t trivial to unlock, however, it takes some time before players will be able to splice together animals of their own choosing.
“The spliced animals are actually quite hard to make. It takes a while to collect all the genomes. Every time you get a new variant of animal—say a polar bear—you get closer to mapping its genome. And once you’ve mapped enough of it’s genome, you can start splicing it with other animals.”
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In addition to the fun of collecting odd fusions, these unnatural specimens draw huge crowds to players' zoos, making these unlocks well-worth the effort. In terms of mechanical impact, crowds will prioritize pens that feature more exciting exhibits, like gorilla/rabbits and lion/wolves, and gain higher satisfaction from them. The happier your crowds are, the more likely your zoo is to thrive.
There are over 300,000 possible combinations players can discover, and Springboard considered various ways to celebrate players' splicing achievements, though they have yet to implement these systems. One idea is integrating the game with a website that will track which player is the first to fuse a specific combination. Barnard joked that he also considered giving NFTs to players who are the first to craft specific combinations but quickly discarded the idea, explaining that he actually hates NFTs—a decision that is probably for the best, givenSteam’s policy on cryptocurrency and NFTs.
Pixel Perfect Hybrids
By and large, indie games are labors of love andLet’s Build a Zoois no exception. In terms of graphics, the spliced animals appear fairly simple: one animal’s head is mounted onto the other animal’s body, similar to online pokemon fusion generators. Given the simplicity of fusion appearances, Barnard developed a script to procedurally automate this process, given the staggering amount of permutations available to players. But while Barnard was satisfied with the results, his artists felt that the process deserved a personal touch.
Justartfully drawn pokemon fusionsoutclass the procedural, online generators, every one of the animal fusions inLet’s Build a Zoofeatures a personal touch from Springboard’s artists, to ensure the hard-won hybrids are pixel-perfect. While seemingly simple, the fusions represent a staggering amount of work and should give players a good idea of how much hard work and passion went into the game.
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