I'm new to planet zoo, but surprisingly already got 10+ hours into the game in 2 days.... i only have the base game and the deluxe edition content. What dlc's do you recommend i buy and why?
What dlc's do you reccomend for a new player and why
- Thread starter Designer1900
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At some point you probably need all of them, haha 
It's hard to tell what DLCs are best for you personally. What are your preferences? Favorite animals? Would you like to build a zoo with a special theme?
My favorite is probably Conservation pack, the animals are great (Przewalski horse, siamang, Amur leopard and oryx) and building pieces are very useful. The blueprints from this pack are also really nice.
Europe Pack is also great, goes well with Eurasia animal pack, should be a set, haha .
Animal packs such as Grasslands and Wetlands are amazing. North American DLC has a lot of popular animals and goes great with Arctic DLC.
South American DLCs is the only one dedicated to this region so I think it's an important one to have.
Arid is less popular but it has porcupine, black rhino and dromedary, as well as two very nice antelopes and the sandcat. This DLC can be paired with Africa pack (Meerkats, White rhino, African Penguins)
More recent Zookeeper pack is really a mixed bag, a bit of everything, maybe that's something you like?
But this is based on my preferences. Maybe make a list of your priority animals and check which DLCs have them?
It's hard to tell what DLCs are best for you personally. What are your preferences? Favorite animals? Would you like to build a zoo with a special theme?
My favorite is probably Conservation pack, the animals are great (Przewalski horse, siamang, Amur leopard and oryx) and building pieces are very useful. The blueprints from this pack are also really nice.
Europe Pack is also great, goes well with Eurasia animal pack, should be a set, haha .
Animal packs such as Grasslands and Wetlands are amazing. North American DLC has a lot of popular animals and goes great with Arctic DLC.
South American DLCs is the only one dedicated to this region so I think it's an important one to have.
Arid is less popular but it has porcupine, black rhino and dromedary, as well as two very nice antelopes and the sandcat. This DLC can be paired with Africa pack (Meerkats, White rhino, African Penguins)
More recent Zookeeper pack is really a mixed bag, a bit of everything, maybe that's something you like?
But this is based on my preferences. Maybe make a list of your priority animals and check which DLCs have them?
It's difficult really to tell you exactly which as dlc for planet zoo is really just more animals and more scenery pieces to choose from, ideally you browse the dlc selection and go for animals/countries you want to build for. But anyway I'll cover what I think is the best for new players.
- Aquatic pack - Nice selection of diving aquatic animals and access to the excellant faux rocks which are a huge improvement over the natural rocks
- Any of the Animal packs - No scenery pieces but a great range of animals within a select region or biome. My favourite is the North america pack as it covers so much of the essential north american animals but you can't go wrong with the grasslands or wetlands packs. Ideally go for your personal favourite animals
- Africa pack - Some unique african scenery pieces but also some of the most popular zoo animals like the meerkat, white rhino and african penguin
- Australia or south america - both are rather essential packs for the continent it covers. Australia gives you access to kangaroos and koalas, while south america gives you the capuchin monkey, giant anteater and jaguar.
Really depends on what you want to with the game, so there really isnt a clear cut answer.
If you want to build realistic zoos Europe and Conservation are the way to go, as they have alot of great scenery for that kinda playstyle.
Really nice allrounder packs in my opinion are the Africa, Tropical and Aquatic packs, as they have a mix of nice scenery and fun animals.
Otherwise id just recommend checking out what speaks to you.
there's so many great animals in almost any of the packs... same with build pieces... i'm mostly interested i think in desert / safari stuff ( big five? ) and europe and tropical stuff...
but i'm not so sure about the barnyard and conservation ones... even though the conservation one has the horse. for europe and tropical stuff it's mostly big cats, monkeys, bears and maybe otters and goats?
but i'm not so sure about the barnyard and conservation ones... even though the conservation one has the horse. for europe and tropical stuff it's mostly big cats, monkeys, bears and maybe otters and goats?
I think Aquatic pack is great as a starter pack - the animals included are a bit different from most base game species as in you will have to build for them with water pools in mind, so they can dive. It also one of the best building items, with faux rock and trees, something that is invaluable if you take inspiration from real life zoos. It also included flexi-colour wooden walls set, which is also a very useful item.
Other than that it really depends on what you like. Africa pack is great as it include lots of zoo stample animals from Africa. I mean, Meerkat, african rhinoceros and a penguin? Thats a steal. The fennec Fox is a nice cute bonus to that.
Other than that it really depends on what you like. Africa pack is great as it include lots of zoo stample animals from Africa. I mean, Meerkat, african rhinoceros and a penguin? Thats a steal. The fennec Fox is a nice cute bonus to that.
I'm sorry to tell you that once you join Planet Zoo you will end up wanting all the DLCs, even the ones that don't exist yet 
Which one should you buy depends on your preferences. If you have a favourite animal, go for the dlc that has it. If you prefer building, then Aquatic and Europe have the most versatile pieces in my opinion.
Which one should you buy depends on your preferences. If you have a favourite animal, go for the dlc that has it. If you prefer building, then Aquatic and Europe have the most versatile pieces in my opinion.
For desert/safari builds Africa and Arid are a match made in heaven. Although Zookeeper could also be worth looking into for the baboon, tortoise and dik-dik
For europe the Europe and Eurasia packs go together very well and pretty much give you the vast majority of the european animals the game has.
For tropical stuff the Tropical and South east asia packs also go together really well and are also a good match if you want to build something tropical south east asian.
All three of those pairings are pretty neat as the both have a Scenery and an Animal Pack that seem to be made for each other
I actually think Eurasia Animal Pack, Grassland Animal Pack, and Tropical Pack are good ones in my opinion. Depending on where you live NA Animal Pack or Europe Pack, lastly Barnyard Animal Pack is great for being able to make a area in zoos you couldn't otherwise, as well as being great for filler
A lot of people like their "local" packs. It can help to build for animals that you're more familiar with. In general, I would suggest you look at the animal lineups and buy the packs with your personal favorites.
- My favorite pack:
- I'm from North America, and I think the North America Animal Pack has the best roster given its theme of any pack in Planet Zoo. The iconic moose require a lot of land and water area. They are sometimes awkward to use but interesting to build for. The cougar is a nice cat with good biome diversity and a range that extends through most of South America, too. The sea lion, alligator, and beaver are all nice picks that can use the deep diving mechanic. Prairie dogs use both the burrows and tunneling mechanic, a niche only otherwise covered by the meerkat, but they can tolerate a range of temperatures and are cheaper to purchase in the game. Arctic foxes are cute and add a tundra critter, and the bullfrog is a nice, large frog. The animals are fun to build for, require a range of habitats, and showcase the diversity of the continent perfectly. However, some players from other regions aren't so interested in North American animals. If that sounds like you, you might prefer the Europe pack, which provides some other nice temperate species, of which the base game has little.
- Kind of essential packs I recommend to new players:
- The Australia pack and South America pack are pretty basic. The game comes with very little from those regions, and both of these packs add some pretty iconic animals. They're a bit older, so some of the textures are nicer in other packs, but they mesh well with the base-game animals. The basic jungle building set and especially the corrugated metal set are useful. The Australia pack has some excellent plants that you will need for pretty much any Australian section.
- The aquatic pack provides four animals that can utilize the deep-diving mechanic plus some additional, sorely-needed South American animal representation. Generally, most people prefer to use the other caiman/American alligator instead of the dwarf caiman, the sea lion to the seal, the African penguin to the king, and the Asian small-clawed otter to the giant. However, this pack is mostly important because it adds some nice plants, some highly useful recolorable rocks, and a generic building set. You might not need this pack right away, but once you get going, you're probably going to want/need it for building.
- The conservation pack is probably the least essential of these four, but the animal selection is pretty good, and the scenery set is one of my favorites. I like the texture of the recolorable, 3-D printed walls, and the backstage/gardening pieces are particularly useful to me. I probably use this building set the most. If you don't care for the animals and don't think building zookeeper work areas or veggie gardens is your cup of tea, you could skip this pack for now.
- Excellent Packs:
- The Europe pack has a solid lineup of basic European animals and one of the community's favorite building sets. North American players don't always click with this pack, but it's very good. A lynx, the basic petting zoo deer, the iconic wild goat, and the burrowing badger are all pretty nice if not essential to some.
- The Africa pack provides an African rhino, which a lot of people missed in the base game; two adorable, popular small mammals, the meerkat and fennec fox; and the African penguin, which is good to farm conservation credits. They breed rapidly and don't require much space. The building set is nice enough, and I really like the plants.
- The grasslands animal pack has a solid roster, too. The emu and wallaby are extremely useful for covering international representation for Australian wildlife. The highly-requested maned wolf is great, and the other animals are liked by most people. This pack adds animals to many regions that need them most. The butterflies really bring this pack up for me. This adds 5 species of butterflies for walkthrough exhibits. You can hide the walls and make it into a butterfly garden if you wish. I like watching the butterflies and the guests interacting with them.
- The wetlands animal pack again has pretty good regional diversity. The capybara and small-clawed otter are favorites of many. The platypus is a neat oddball, and the crane is pretty useful. The other 3 animals are less-requested and hinder the pack's popularity somewhat, but they're ok. An Asian ungulate is useful, and the spectacled caiman is my personal favorite crocodilian in Planet Zoo.
- Great/Good Packs:
- This region doesn't have much in the game relative to its biodiversity, and it has a lot of cool animals. The Southeast Asia Animal Pack brings some good ones. The clouded leopard and Malayan tapir are both expected and fantastic. Binturongs are a cool oddball that are actually rather common in zoos. The sun bear is a nice, smaller tropical bear, and the freaky babirusa pig was highly requested. The dhole and choice of the proboscis monkey seem a bit random, but they're still pretty good. This pack doesn't come with a build set, so it pairs nicely with the Tropical pack.
- The tropical pack seems to be for the builders. The building set is one of the most beautiful and detailed in the game, and it is very useful if you have the Southeast Asia Animal Pack. It also has some interesting carnivorous plants, a "regular" gibbon, a diving monitor lizard, a popular pig, a fossa, and sloths for the walkthrough exhibit. All of these animals are interesting to build for.
- The zookeeper's animal pack adds some nice party stuff. Baboons are pretty basic, the spectacled bear is nice for variety in South American animals, a new tortoise is nice, tiny cats are unique, the dik-dik is our smallest ungulate, the sifaka has some interesting ground animations, and the markhor is iconic. The animals are nice, and most people like this pack even if they don't care so much for an animal or two. It would not have been a good finale, but it's a nice animal pack. Two primates in one pack was a first.
- The Oceania pack is well done. The plants are nice, the lava rock pieces are cool, the blueprints are fantastic, and the building set is pretty nice. The animals are kind of niche to anyone outside of the region, but some additional birds and small mammals are good for the roster.
- Packs with a bit of controversy or are a bit niche:
- The Arctic pack was their first DLC. The animal model quality shows its age a bit here. The polar bears are difficult to build for, but the other animals are nice enough. If you want to build arctic sections or have Christmas lights in your zoo, this pack will be useful. Some of the wooden beam pieces are pretty useful.
- I think the twilight pack gets a bit too much criticism, but I think I can see where it comes from. With the North America animal pack, arctic pack, and base game animals, North American representation is pretty good. This pack adds 3 small carnivores for North America, which was too much for people who don't live here. For the people that do live here, all three are viewed more as pests than zoo animals. Still, the game doesn't have much for small mammals, and they're all cute and famous. Wombats add some good Australian rep, and the foxes have a ton of cool color morphs. The Halloween decor is a bit niche, but the other building pieces are quite nice.
- The barnyard animal pack is a favorite of some; for others, it is the only pack they did not buy. If you like the thought of building cozy farm areas and petting zoos, you will probably like this pack. If not, you could save it as a DLC to buy when you're bored of building other areas. The limited scenery is nice.
- The arid animal pack is criticized mostly for adding too many ungulates and also for only including African animals. The camel and porcupine are zoo staples, and the cat is adorable. The dama gazelle, Somali wild ass, addax, and black rhino are four rare African hoofed animals. 4 mid-sized, arid, African hoofstock was too much for a DLC for most people, especially with all of the options already in the base game. I personally like the animals, like building arid habitats, and have seen a lot of captive breeding programs for these species at my local zoos, so this pack is actually one of my personal favorites. It is not one I would typically recommend to new players because it doesn't add much "new" to the animal roster.
- The Eurasia animal pack also has the problem of too many ungulates (unless you really like hoofstock). These species are likely to be relevant if you live in Europe. I'm happy for the European players that got some representation. It isn't typically so popular elsewhere. The swan is PZ's first and only waterfowl, so it is a highlight for a lot of people. This pack also comes with a takin and a sloth bear.
- The deluxe DLC is a bit expensive for 3 animals. They are all pretty good, and the pack usually comes on sale. Buy it on sale if you like the animals.
The DLC packs literally only add new animals and scenery. It's kind of hard to make a "recommendation" because it wholly depends on what animals and scenery you actually want. None of them add new gameplay features; all of that comes free with the base game. So all you need to do is look at what's in each one and decide what animals and scenery you want to play with, and go from there.
The question is how much you enjoy playing the game. If you are enjoying the base game very much, and like the idea of getting more animals to keep, then you need to buy all of them with the possible exception of the farm animal pack. That one seems mostly intended for making a petting zoo for big-city dwellers. I can't imagine any other reason for putting domestic farmyard animals in a zoo. It is the only DLC I have not bought, and even so every so often I toy with the idea of buying it just for the sake of completeness.
Eurasia Animal pack... because it has a bunch of my favorite animals... really, you should just pick whatever adds your favorite animals...
Well, depending where you live, the Barnyard DLC can be very useful. For example in the area where I live, all of the major zoos around have a farm/petting section to educate people about domestication or just to have a section with animals popular with the kids.
And are you more of a builder or just want more animal choice?
For a nice combination best bet seems the Africa pack, it's got solid building pieces and a few of Africa's most wanted species. When it comes to the big five most notably the white rhino.
Conservation has a little bit of everything you're asking for. The horse for Europe, the oryx for desert Africa, the siamang for tropical monkey and the amur leopard for big cat (tho not tropical) & has great building pieces.
So as many have said this is a subjective opinion, and animals are always the main draw of a pack so that is personal. From a building standpoint I recommend two packs:
- Barnyard. If you are like me and live in the United States most zoos have petting zoos. The Barnyard pack got me back into the game after months of not playing, just because I wanted to build a barn area.
- Conservation pack gives you some of the most essential pieces and props to make a staff area. It’s simple, but sometimes making staff areas can be fun!
My Top Three:
1. Africa- Iconic African zoo animals and plaster pieces
2. Aquatic- Antarctic penguin and seal. Faux rocks and most of the pieces are pretty great too.
3. Conservation- Siamang and useful backstage pieces.
From here I would just prioritize the animals/building themes that personally appeal to you. Arctic, South America, and Australia have some of the more typical zoo staples.
1. Africa- Iconic African zoo animals and plaster pieces
2. Aquatic- Antarctic penguin and seal. Faux rocks and most of the pieces are pretty great too.
3. Conservation- Siamang and useful backstage pieces.
From here I would just prioritize the animals/building themes that personally appeal to you. Arctic, South America, and Australia have some of the more typical zoo staples.
In addition to what others have said, I would recommend watching some YouTube Let's Plays. You can get some ideas regarding habitat construction of various DLC animals, and also you can see how they incorporate some of the scenery pieces into their builds. That's how I started out. I watched about 50-60 episodes in a Let's Play series before I even bought the base game.
If you are like me, and do very limited builds, then doing the above is probably a good way to start. Then you can see which build set(s) you like most. For me, the Plaster Wall set from the Africa DLC and the Wooden Build set from the Conservation DLC are pretty much the only 2 build sets I use now.
For the animal choices, then it's pretty self explanatory. Just take a look at the rosters and see what you like.
But I would wait for around Christmas/New Years time. I think Steam usually has a decent Winter Sale and you can probably get a bunch of the DLCs pretty cheap.
If you are like me, and do very limited builds, then doing the above is probably a good way to start. Then you can see which build set(s) you like most. For me, the Plaster Wall set from the Africa DLC and the Wooden Build set from the Conservation DLC are pretty much the only 2 build sets I use now.
For the animal choices, then it's pretty self explanatory. Just take a look at the rosters and see what you like.
But I would wait for around Christmas/New Years time. I think Steam usually has a decent Winter Sale and you can probably get a bunch of the DLCs pretty cheap.
For the love of all there is, skip Barnyard when you are on a budget. The animal quality in there does BY FAR not compare to the animals in most other DLCs in my book and is just not worth the same money.
Conservation is good, if you want to build backstage or are interested in most animals in the pack.
I highly recommend eurasia and twilight if you want to build a european low budget zoo. If you want versatile building pieces I'd go for the African Animal pack.
In general: If you are seeing yourself as a builder and want to become even better at building, go with scenery packs first. If you want a large variety of animals quick, go with Animal packs.
And after reading all those suggestions, if you are still stuck for choices, create a priority list and wait for the sales to come around and grab a few each time. Or, when not in sales, pick one at a time ( depending on your funds ).
I always say I will wait for the sales to come around before buying the DLCs but of course, the moment they are released I have bought them.
The base game does have plenty of animals to start you off with, so you have time to spot those animals and scenery items you are missing and hopefully a pack will have those animals and items. And believe me that 200 storage will fill up quick once you get going rofl. And to think we started off with only 50 rofl.
I always say I will wait for the sales to come around before buying the DLCs but of course, the moment they are released I have bought them.
The base game does have plenty of animals to start you off with, so you have time to spot those animals and scenery items you are missing and hopefully a pack will have those animals and items. And believe me that 200 storage will fill up quick once you get going rofl. And to think we started off with only 50 rofl.