Common Sense Media Review
By Christopher Healy
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Lackluster zoo sim entices you to spend real money.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Tap Zoo
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 12 parent reviews
Parents say the app is often accused of being deceptive and potentially exploitative, as many reviews report unauthorized charges racked up by children, frequently leading to bills in the hundreds of dollars. While some parents emphasize the need for supervision and proper account settings to prevent these issues, a significant number express outrage at the app's design, suggesting it preys on kids by not clearly communicating in-app purchases and their costs.
- deceptive practices
- unauthorized charges
- need for supervision
- exploitative design
- financial warnings
Summarized with AI
Based on 3 kid reviews
Is It Any Good?
There are many simulation apps like TAP ZOO in which you earn money very slowly and are therefore enticed into spending real-world money to speed up the game and customize it the way you want. They're all somewhat insidious, but most of them look better than Tap Zoo. At least in Tap Birds, when you buy a bird for your virtual aviary, you get to see that bird fly around and interact with other birds. In Tap Zoo, when you buy a gorilla, you get an pre-rendered animated square with two gorillas in it and a little number 1 in the corner to show you that you only have one gorilla. When you buy another, the animation stays the same and you get a little 2 in the corner. If those two gorillas have a baby (which will hatch from an egg, by the way), you still have the same two-gorilla animation only with a little 3 in the corner. A changing numeral is not worth the time it takes to build up all the coins you need to buy these animals, and certainly not worth the real money you'd have to spend to make it happen quickly .
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android , Kindle Fire
- Pricing structure : Free
- Release date : September 14, 2010
- Genre : Simulation Games
- Publisher : Streetview Labs
- Version : 1.1.1
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 2.1 or later, Android 2.2 and up
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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