Planet Zoo returns once again for its final release of 2021. The free Update 1.8 brings a host of new food options to your guests, whilst the ‘Europe Pack’ DLC adds five more animals, along with a huge stack of new building parts!
Europe Pack DLC
This is one of the larger DLC releases for the zoo management game and adds some furry creatures which will be familiar to UK residents. First up, the fearsome European badger… (well, fearsome if you’re an earthworm and insect…) This new stripey furball works well with the new burrows feature which has been added in the free update. Also in this pack, we have the Alpine ibex, which comes with a new “goat climbing rock”; The European fallow deer which has a new “Scarecrow Feeder”; And the Eurasian lynx, alongside the fire salamander exhibit animal.
Outside of the animals, the Europe Pack adds over 250 scenery pieces, inspired by various picturesque European locations. This includes some wonderful bridge pieces, new foliage, medieval-themed animal signs, new lights, and (seeing as we’re coming up to Christmas) some lovely festive decor! Another exciting new addition is the boat and coach guest spawner options, allowing you to build a river with a boat, or car park with a coach, by the entrance to your zoo, and your guest will arrive from them! This opens up a whole new set of possibilities for your zoo layout.
One great example of what you can build with this new scenery comes in the form of the “Al’s Pine Zoo”, a timed scenario that contains three distinct zones based on Italy, France and Switzerland. It’s a really interesting and different looking map from some of the previous releases and should pose an interesting challenge.
Update 1.8
Whilst the “Europe Pack” has some nice additions, the free Update 1.8 is no slouch either. The big new addition is Restaurants finally landing in Planet Zoo. This is a larger structure with an entrance, serving desk, and a kitchen which you can then build around in the same way as you would a shop or staff facility. However, you can then attach either diner booths, or tables and chairs, to the restaurant module, which customers will use to sit, eat and drink. You don’t actually need to set a path to these either (customers magically pop up there once they have bought their food), meaning you can build rooftop dining, without having to worry about dealing with Planet Zoo’s sometimes fiddly pathing system.
The other new addition on the retail side of things are Shop Counters. Rather than having to deal with a large cube structure, these are literally just the front counter of the shop or food stand, opening up a huge range of creative options. Fancy building a medieval fair or Christmas market using tents or free-standing tables? You can now do that! They have also added some new, smaller, shop signs designed to fit in with those types of builds.
On the animal front, this update introduces burrows. These work great with animals such as the badgers in the Europe Pack, and will work with a number of other existing animals. As that means your animals will spend some of their time underground, they come pre-fitted with internal habitat cameras which can be linked to the billboard screens, meaning your guests can still watch the cuteness on the monitors.
The last new addition is Animal Memorials, which allow you to immortalise your most iconic furry (or leathery) friends when they pass on to the big zoo in the sky. To help you keep track, they have added a new UI section showing the animals that have passed away in your zoos, and then physical memorials that you can place as a tribute to specific animals. These come in the form of either a customisable Memorial Plaque Screen, or a Memorial Plaque Editable Sign in brass or limestone. It’s a really nice addition to help you pay tribute to your favourite animal pals.
If you’re a fan of business sim games and/or building games, ‘Planet Zoo’ continues to be one of the best on the market. The Europe Pack DLC comes in at £7.99 and is worth the money, especially for the builders amongst you with the new scenery options. Update 1.8 is free and the additional options for the shops, along with the restaurants should really give you some great new options for your zoos. If you’ve not yet joined the ‘Planet Zoo’ family, now is a great time to jump in!
