Planet Zoos current time system is way too fast, but I would love to have seasonal management systems. This time I’m not talking about anything to do with animals. I’m talking about special discounts, events, and other things you can plan around the zoo! Here, I’ll go by season:
- Fall: this one is common, but a Boo at the Zoo. This Halloween event would have special decorations that can be placed around the zoo, think the twilight pack for a very intentional example. Guests will react positively to the scenery, and if you have your zoo in a colder area it is a good way to boost visitors. The Boo at the Zoo event can even have staff dress up, and could culminate into a Halloween night event. Maybe candy can be given to children NPCs. You could also have a generic Harvest type event, maybe with less pumpkins and ghosts and more leaves and scarecrows.
- Winter: Christmas is obvious, and the first thing I can think of is Santa at the Zoo! You can hire a special staff member to dress as Santa, which drastically boosts winter engagement. For those who don’t celebrate Christmas, I imagine a Winter Lights event where you can place special glow in the dark decorations. At least for zoos where I am from, Winter is the slowest season. So it would be cool if that could be reflected in game, and winter events can turn that around!
- Spring: spring has sprung! I honestly can’t think of much for Spring. It’s a bit of an awkward middle stage, at least for where I am from. I can imagine a Spring Flowers event. Where guests can buy native flowers to help pollinators. Easter is another obvious one, like Santa you can hire a special Easter Bunny, and the kids can collect eggs!
- Summer: ok, here is the big guy! Brew at the Zoo could be a special adult only event, boosting engagement and (intentionally expensive) sale of alcohol. Downside is more security might be needed. Obviously this game might not allow alcohol, so a more safe idea would be Summer Lights. This is the counterpart to the winter light show. Same idea as before, bright signs and statues decorate the zoo for visitors to see at night! The biggest one would be Summer Camps. Hire a special staff member, and place down a special building type, and you can begin hosting summer camps for the kids. Drastically boost community engagement as well as acting like an educational tool. A think it would be cool to have a Summer Volunteer Program as well. Get free labor, and as these staff members gain experience you can eventually hire them. These new experienced staff members will be more efficient than just hiring a random person off the rip.
So that was my ideas for some seasonal management, but I also want to get into Conservation management ideas:
- You can join a fictional AZA/ EAZA type organization, with perks being higher guest confidence in your zoos, increased staff experience, and better research into animal care being at your disposal. The downside is the standards for your animals welfare are 10x higher, they won’t settle for less! Also a certain percent of your income is expected to go to conservation, this can be money to protect habitats, breeding programs, field research, etc.
- You can hire a new staff member called the researcher. They can work with the zoos veterinarians to gather data on the animals in your zoos, or you can send them to the field to work with animals in the wild. The researcher can also help with animal breeding, allowing endangered species to breed better in your care. A real world example is how the Bronx Zoo was able to breed and save a type of spray toad that almost went extinct. Or the wild horse, golden Lion tamarins, and California condors also work as great examples.
- Animals you release into the wild can be tracked, and you can get updates on them as you go along!