My favorite new feature is the Conservation Rating. On the economic side, Planet Zoo has a well-balanced set of income sources and expenses to consider. I did wish, though, that the franchise mode would have let me start on a map with a bit more realistic terrain without having to rely on other users. The possibilities go far beyond what I would ever have the skill or patience to make myself based on what I’ve seen other users create already, and it’s great to have access to it all. To give your non-story-mode zoos some drama and character, you’ll either spend a lot of time sculpting the land and placing foliage yourself, or browsing the Steam Workshop for a landscape someone else has made and shared that strikes your fancy. Which is good, because outside of a handful of pre-made story scenarios, you always start from a boring, flat plain. The structure and terrain editors are incredibly powerful and easy to use. Much like Frontier’s other theme park world, Planet Coaster, this sim wowed me with a huge amount of customization. In that way, Planet Zoo even makes poor business decisions fun. But when the in-depth animal welfare screens told me my prized timber wolves were a little bit sad, of course I was going to throw money at them until their accommodations were heavenly and the accountants were in a panic.
![planet zoo franchise mode planet zoo franchise mode](https://respawnfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/1-23.jpg)
I can’t blame any lack of tools or inability to find vital information, because those things were all at my fingertips and worked pretty well. Planet Zoo taught me two main things as I tried to wrangle its beautiful animals and satisfying tycoon economy: running a wildlife preserve can be a lot of fun, and I would be absolutely terrible at it.