Unpacking 'Zoo Tycoon', a classic zoo management sim that has become a super heavyweight board game, and preparing to play for over an hour

The Japanese version of ' Zoo Tycoon ', a board game version of the zoo management simulation game of the same name released by Microsoft in 2001, was released on September 28, 2023. Arclight Games provided us with the actual product, so we decided to actually play it at the GIGAZINE editorial department, but first we checked the contents and prepared to play, and before playing, we were reminded of the dignity of the heavyweight board game.

Zoo Tycoon - ArclightGames Official

A male editorial staff member holds the package. It is a large size for a board game box.

I weighed it and it was 3.15kg.

The play time is 120 to 180 minutes, the target age is 13 years old and above, and the number of players is expected to be 1 to 4.

When you open the lid, it looks like this, filled with cards, bags, and boards.

The rules manual is B4 size and 24 pages long.

Exchange boards and scoreboards

Number sheet and zoo board for 4 people

There are 89 animal cards that provide quick reference information about animals, and 12 quick reference cards that provide reference information for the game rules.

Cardboard tiles used during the game

The cardboard has cuts in it so you can easily remove the tiles by hand without using a cutter or scissors.

Linen cloth bag

There are four staff boards, partner cards, event cards, and cards for solo play. On the far right is a small box for storing pieces and tokens.

Here's what the small paper box looks like when assembled. No glue or scissors are needed, it can be easily assembled by hand.

And eight brown envelopes.

There are animal pieces inside. The type and number of animal pieces are not mentioned in the instruction manual, but

◆ Divide a huge number of pieces and tokens into small boxes
There are a total of 236 animal pieces, and a large number of play tokens are also prepared. Before the first play, all the small boxes must be assembled, and the pieces and tokens must be sorted and stored. This sorting task took the most time in preparing for the play, and it took about 30 minutes even with two people. Doing this task just before the first play will take away valuable play time, so it is recommended to do it in advance. Below is a summary of the types of animal pieces and tokens and the small boxes they should be stored in. Please refer to it if you want to play. All animal pieces are male and female, and the males are lined up on the left and the females on the right.

Tufted Capuchin Monkey and Green-winged Macaw

Black rhino and giraffe

Lion

Zebra and Ostrich

Raccoons and American Bears

Red Ruffed Lemur

Chimpanzee

Western Gorilla

Tiger and Asian Elephant

Arabian Oryx and Bald Ibis

Snow leopard and bearded vulture

Golden Lion Tamarin and Bornean Orangutan

Red pandas and giant pandas. There is only one male and one female giant panda, and they are the only ones that are colored.

There are four worker pieces, color cubes, and word-of-mouth discs for players to use. The pieces used by players come in four colors: red, green, blue, and yellow, and are stored in small boxes with the logo of each zoo.

There are four types of markers. From the left, they are popular markers, habitat markers, education markers, and conservation markers.

There are 260 tiles in total. Below are the coexisting animal tiles, which come in three types: savanna, tropical rainforest, and mountain forest. There are 35 tiles in total.

There are 53 building tiles, from left to right: an educational exhibition booth, a park, and an animal protection center.

The most common set is the garden tile set, with 172 tiles. Since no bags or small boxes for storing the garden tiles are included, you will need to prepare your own storage bags.

Parent markers and prohibition tokens.

Eight wooden dice and a contraceptive token. On the right are two wooden markers, which can be stored in the small box of dice and contraceptive tokens.

If you pack all the small boxes and animal cards into the box as shown in the image below, they will fit perfectly, so if you prepare them for play the first time, you won't need to separate them again.

◆Preparing to play Zoo Tycoon
First, place the number sheet and then the exchange board on top of it.

There are scales drawn on the number sheet and exchange board. Place them so that they line up perfectly.

Numbers and symbols will then appear in the holes next to the animals on the exchange board.

Next, place the score board upside down underneath the exchange board.

Give each player a zoo board.

Place the quick reference cards on the left side of the zoo board, and the animal cards, worker pieces, color cubes, and word-of-mouth discs on the right side.

Place one colored cube on the '10' space on the funding table at the top of the zoo board.

Each player takes six of their choice of zoo tiles and places them in the bottom left corner of the zoo board.

Place one colored cube on each of the '0's on the two columns of the scale on the expense table.

Place three worker pieces under the expense table.

Arrange each player's colored cubes on the score board as follows:

Additionally, place a word-of-mouth disc next to the color cube on the yellow popularity meter.

The light blue and pink descendant discs are stored in a cloth bag.

Place the Hotei, dice, coexisting animal tiles and animal pieces on the exchange board.

Shuffle the event cards and partner cards thoroughly and place them in the upper right corner of the scoreboard as shown below.

Flip the top card of your partner deck and place it face up on top of the deck.

Each player places a prohibition token on the top 8 squares of the Zoo card.

Place the wooden token on the '1' on the round meter at the bottom of the scoreboard.

Once you have decided who will be the parent, hand over the parent marker.

Place the building tiles, attention markers, prohibition tokens, contraceptive tokens, and garden tiles on the top of the scoreboard.

On the season meter on the right side of the scoreboard, place a wooden token on the yellow 'Summer' meter, which is the second from the top.

Now you're ready to go. Placing all the boards, pieces, and tokens on a fairly large desk will require a lot of space, so you'll need to choose a location to actually play.

It took about 40 minutes to open the box and complete the 'preparation for the game', and another 30 minutes to arrange the board and tokens and finish preparing the game, so it took more than an hour in total to prepare for the first play. The editorial staff who were working on the preparation with me commented, 'It's rare to see a game that takes so long to prepare. You can already tell how heavy the game is at this point.'

Next, I plan to play Zoo Tycoon and summarize what kind of game it is, so stay tuned.

The suggested retail price of Zoo Tycoon is 13,750 yen. It is also available on Amazon.co.jp and can be purchased for 10,500 yen at the time of writing.

Amazon | Arclight Zoo Tycoon (1-4 players, 120-180 minutes, ages 13 and up) Board Game | Board Games | Toys