Common Sense Media Review
By Erin Bell
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Run-of-the-mill zoo sim puts heavy emphasis on purchases.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Tiny Zoo Friends
What's It About?
In Tiny Zoo, players manage a virtual zoo by buying exhibits and animals to put in them. Players keep the zoo clean by clicking on garbage as it pops up, and can collect coins from exhibits to spend on expanding the zoo. Many exclusive items can only be purchased with premium currency. Players can also cross-breed animals to discover new species, although there's no element of experimentation since the game tells you exactly which two animals you need to breed to come up with a new one.
Is It Any Good?
TINY ZOO doesn't offer anything that can't already be found in other zoo apps, except for an animal breeding component that costs an exorbitant amount of coins -- unless, of course, the player is willing to pay real-world cash to speed things up. All aspects of the game can be sped up by paying real money, and players who choose not to pay will run out of things to do pretty quickly. The in-game animations aren't very engaging, meaning players will quickly become bored as they wait for the various timers to count down so that they can amass more coins and experience points. Overall, Tiny Zoo is short on entertainment value and seems too focused on trying to get the player to fork over real money.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android
- Subjects : Science : animals
- Pricing structure : Free
- Release date : September 30, 2011
- Genre : Simulation Games
- Publisher : TinyCo, Inc.
- Version : 1.6
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 3.0 or later, Android 2.1 and up
- Last updated : November 11, 2020
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