Disco Zoo Review
PROS
- Battleship-style puzzles are surprisingly engaging
- Free energy and coins allow a decent amount of play without IAPs
- Pixel art is adorable, especially during the discos
CONS
- Having to wait for cool downs in will drive you to invest
- Puzzle sections involve a lot of chance
- Expensive if you want to level up quickly
VERDICT
Disco Zoo manages to balance puzzle elements and free-to-play mechanics well, resulting in a funky - and fun - time waster.
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Nobody tell PETA, but we have been playing Disco Zoo. And though the animals we're caring for my be digital, we're probably sure in breach of a welfare guidline or two.
It isn’t that we don't love them - we do. Disco Zoo's pixel art menagerie is adorable. The problem is that they only generate money for the zoo when awake. As a result, our animals haven’t slept in nearly two days – which can't be good.
In our defence, the money is for a good cause – liberating animals from their natural environments to give them a safe home in our zoo. Using the cash we make we can buy aircraft and fund expeditions to hunt for them.
Once out in the wild it isn’t a case of just grabbing prospective guests willie nillie. We have to find them first. This capture takes the form of a puzzle game which plays out a bit like Battleships: You select squares from a five-by-five grid to try and match up animal cards.
Turning five animal tiles upgrades the relevant enclosure and generates more cash. This means as profitable rare creatures appear - be they unicorns or dinosaurs – it is important to nab them.
This is where the IAPs come in. Disco Bucks are the game's primary currency, and they can also be used to speed up enclosure construction, and fund discos. However, they can also buy more guesses if you fail to catch the animal you're looking for.
It's the discos that will really get us in hot water with animal lovers.These parties keep the animals dancing through the night, earning you double money as they bop to the game's funky beats. Discos can last up to eight hours if you have the required bucks, and ensure happy visitors throughout.
Nimblebit does a good job of keeping the carrot constantly out of reach. Every new achievement met with another to accomplish, either requiring more time or, if you're impatient, more money. It infuriating, but also wonderful, as you find yourself constantly coming back to wake your animals, do a little dance, and add some new beasties to your enclosures. It's addictive fun, but be warned: once your in, your wallet may suffer.
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