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Simplz: Zoo
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Graphics & Sound:
Simplz: Zoo is an interesting new game out for download. It combines your traditional SimCity game with a puzzle game, which means that you never really get bored of either!
I really like the graphics of Simplz: Zoo. The characters are simple, but nicely done. The buildings aren't extraordinarily detailed, but they are very pleasing to look at and the game runs fast without a lot of graphics rendering to have to process. I also liked the additional touches, like the loading bar made of different animal prints every time you load the game. The look on the white tiger's face is adorable as well. All the animals are well done. They're a bit cartoonish, but it fits with the game. The graphics on the puzzles are very easy to distinguish what's what and what bonus some tiles get. This is very important as you need to get specific things sometimes and you never want to miss the bonus items that are shown in the bottom right corner of the tile.
Simplz: Zoo has very soothing background music, complete with sounds of the jungle. While you're in the park watching the people walk around, you hear exactly what you would expect to hear at a zoo, and you can read what the people are saying about your zoo. When you're in the puzzle, you get even more sound effects. Now normally, I say that you don't need to listen to the background music while you play. Here, you really don't need to listen to it, but I quite enjoyed hearing all the little sound effects, like the lion's roar when you match food three times in a row, the monkey's laugh when you rearrange the board, and all of the other sounds. It's the little things that make the game more enjoyable.
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Gameplay:
As I said before, Simplz: Zoo is really a sim game and a puzzle game all in one. When you first start the game, it automatically names your Zoo after your windows profile name, which is nice, but you can change it if you'd like. Then you'll be given a few tips on how to play. Don't worry about forgetting anything, because you can always find it again at the Info Desk or on the Bulletin Board. The Bulletin Board is also where you'll find your trophies, enter unlock codes, and quite a few more things. I recommend that you check it every so often!
You start out with just a lion in your zoo, but it is very easy to earn more creatures, buildings, plants, and decorations. You earn all of these things by playing the puzzle game. The puzzle is a Bejeweled type game where you match three or more items and they'll clear off the screen dropping more in. But there are several differences from Bejeweled. The puzzle isn't timed. You can also move pieces in any direction, including diagonal. This allows you to be able to set up larger clears easier. You want to clear more pieces at once because the more you clear at once, you get higher point values for each piece. There are several different playing pieces. The bananas (and later on fish) represent food that you are earning. The construction hat is for more zoo workers. The bricks are for building materials, question marks are for research points, and coins are money. Now you want to also clear three of the same type in a row as that also earns you bonuses! There are also special tasks that you can earn. They show up on the bottom of the puzzles. You'll need to learn when to use these to really maximize your points. Personally, I always ran out of money before anything else so I tried to get as much of that as possible!
Once you're done with the puzzle, the things that you earned will be brought back to the zoo. The money will allow you to buy new buildings and animals. The food feeds the animals and the workers take care of them. One thing that I liked about the zoo is that you can rearrange anything at any time without a penalty. So if you want to move your elephants across the park, go for it. You can redesign your zoo every day if you wish. The goal, of course, is to get your zoo to be ranked #1! |
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Difficulty:
Simplz: Zoo is an easy game to play, but that's what makes it fun. There's really no way that you can "lose" it. You might grow faster or slower than another person playing it, but as long as you're beating the puzzles, you're continually growing.
There are a few things that will make the puzzles more difficult the further you go. There are chains and a piece can have one or two chains across it. That piece will not move until you match something with it to remove the chains. You can also remove chains by matching the question marks three times in a row. There are some boards where you have to lead the animal down a path in the puzzle to earn that animal. It's not particularly hard, but it can be tricky at times. Since the game isn't timed, just take your time and you'll always get there. You can turn the timer on if you would like, though. It does make the game more difficult, but you can use the ice block power up to freeze the timer and to extend your bonus time, so when you get better at the game, you might want to consider using the timer! Be careful though! If you use the timer, it is very possible to fail the level and have to play it again.
The zoo isn't particularly hard to build either. You don't have to worry about making sure that the path is just perfect for people to get to something. They will walk across the grass just fine, although they might complain about a lack of walkways. You don't have to do picky things like make sure the elephant isn't too close to the lion or anything like that. I like the fact that you are given the freedom to make your zoo any way you want without rules on what has to go where. Granted, it makes the game easier to get to #1, but I think that it's more fun that way.
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Game Mechanics:
The mechanics in Simplz: Zoo are very easy to use. You can do everything with the mouse and most things with the keyboard as well. I recommend using the mouse though, as it is a lot quicker. The puzzle can only be played with the mouse. In the puzzle, you just have to click on the piece that you want to move and then click on the piece that you want to swap it with. To use the power ups at the bottom, you just click on them and click on the piece that you want to apply them to. When you are building your zoo, simply click on the building you want and click where you want to place it. If it can't be placed there, you'll see the shading under it red. Just move the piece to where it is all green underneath. The one thing that I miss in Simplz: Zoo is the ability to rotate buildings. But as it is, all the buildings face you, so I guess you don't need to rotate them. Since the zoo customers aren't picky about the placement of things, you don't have to rotate anything.
I have found Simplz: Zoo to be a very addictive little game to play. I liked the combination of sim and puzzle game so that you're always kept entertained. Especially for the price of only $9.99, you can't go wrong with Simplz: Zoo, so go download it today! |
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-Cyn, GameVortex Communications AKA Sara Earl |
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows 2000, XP, Vista, or 7; 256 MB RAM; 32 MB Video Card; 1 ghz CPU or Mac OS 10.4+ |
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Test System:
Windows XP Professional, Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile Processor T8300 (2.4 GHz), 3 GB Ram, 128MB nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M Graphics Card |
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