Frontier Developments released Planet Zoo on 5 November 2019 with 73 animals in the base game, well past the 50 originally promised. Four modes ship together: Career, Franchise, Challenge and Sandbox, with Franchise running on Conservation Credits earned by releasing well bred animals back to the wild. Career runs 12 scenarios, opening at Goodwin House and closing at the Bernie Goodwin Memorial Zoo in Upper Bay, New York.
Starting Planet Zoo can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Planet Zoo is a city-builder game built around Welfare from nutrition, social and suitability and Conservation Credits from releasing animals. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Africa | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Asia | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| North America | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| South America | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Australia | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Asia. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Australia as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Welfare from nutrition, social and suitability
Each animal scores welfare from access to food and water, social health covering group size and sex balance, and habitat suitability covering terrain types, temperature, plant cover and enrichment. Every enrichment tier you research pushes that score closer to 100 percent.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Welfare from nutrition, social and suitability works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Goodwin House
The opening Career scenario, Stately Home Schooling, built around the Goodwin family estate. It teaches habitat construction, staff hiring and guest paths one objective at a time.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Veterinarian: it's the most accessible early upgrade. Treats sick animals, handles contraception and runs species research from the Research Centre. A vet or a caretaker is required before you can put any animal into a habitat at all.
Step 4: Understand Conservation Credits from releasing animals
Releasing an animal to the wild converts it into Conservation Credits, the currency Franchise mode is built on. Release healthy adults with high fertility and a high star rating, because juveniles and elderly animals return far fewer credits.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Panda Park
The third tutorial scenario, Bear Essentials, centred on giant pandas. Pandas are demanding on habitat and breeding, which makes them a pointed lesson in welfare before the campaign opens up.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Welfare from nutrition, social and suitability
Each animal scores welfare from access to food and water, social health covering group size and sex balance, and habitat suitability covering terrain types, temperature, plant cover and enrichment. Every enrichment tier you research pushes that score closer to 100 percent.
Conservation Credits from releasing animals
Releasing an animal to the wild converts it into Conservation Credits, the currency Franchise mode is built on. Release healthy adults with high fertility and a high star rating, because juveniles and elderly animals return far fewer credits.
Research at the Research Centre
Vets research animal species and mechanics research facilities and habitat items, both from a powered Research Centre with access to the relevant habitat. Research unlocks higher enrichment tiers, better medical treatment and reduced running costs.
Barriers and terrain shaping
A habitat needs an unbroken barrier the occupant cannot climb, jump, dig under or smash, and each species tests differently. One way glass keeps nervous animals calm while guests still get a view, and terrain tools set the grass, sand, rock and water ratios each species expects.
Guest education and donation bins
Education boards, speakers and Zoopedia entries raise guest education, and educated guests donate more at bins. A donation bin beside a well presented viewing area out earns most food and drink shops in the same footprint.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Buying rare animals before researching the enrichment tiers their welfare depends on
2. Building a barrier without checking whether the species can climb, dig or smash through that specific type
3. Assigning every keeper to the whole zoo instead of tight work zones, so nothing gets fed on time
4. Releasing juveniles or elderly animals to the wild and wondering why the Conservation Credit return is so low
5. Skipping donation bins and education boards, then running at a loss while blaming ticket prices
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Welfare from nutrition, social and suitability and Conservation Credits from releasing animals
- Choose Asia as starting build
- Clear Goodwin House main content
- Acquire Veterinarian or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Panda Park
- Research enrichment tiers before you buy expensive animals. A species sitting in a habitat with tier one enrichment will never reach acceptable welfare, and welfare drives everything from breeding to Conservation Credits.
- Draw keeper work zones tightly around two or three neighbouring habitats. A keeper assigned across the whole zoo spends most of the day walking rather than feeding.
Tips for New Players
- Research enrichment tiers before you buy expensive animals. A species sitting in a habitat with tier one enrichment will never reach acceptable welfare, and welfare drives everything from breeding to Conservation Credits.
- Draw keeper work zones tightly around two or three neighbouring habitats. A keeper assigned across the whole zoo spends most of the day walking rather than feeding.
- Donation bins placed at habitat viewing areas earn more than most shops of the same footprint, because educated guests donate more. Pair every viewing platform with a bin and an education board.
- Check the barrier a species can defeat before you build. Climbing, jumping, digging and strength are tested separately, and an escaped animal is almost always a barrier chosen without reading those numbers.
- One way glass keeps nervous species calm while guests still see them. It costs more than plain glass and it is the difference between a shy animal hiding all day and being visible.
- Release adults, not juveniles or elderly animals, and check their star rating first. The higher the rating, the more Conservation Credits the release returns in Franchise mode.
- Keep a Quarantine facility from the start. Disease spreading through a breeding group destroys weeks of genetics work and quarantine is far cheaper than the vet bills that follow.
- Power and water are physical networks in Planet Zoo. Place a generator and pump within reach of new construction before building, because retrofitting infrastructure through finished paths is tedious.
- Breed for genetics rather than headcount. Size, longevity, fertility and immunity all carry into the offspring, and a pair of strong parents produces animals worth far more on the Animal Market.
- The Australia Pack, released 25 August 2020 with Update 1.3, added the Koala, Red Kangaroo, Dingo, Southern Cassowary and Eastern Blue-Tongued Lizard, plus the Tanami Roadside Zoo challenge. Check which pack an animal belongs to before planning a themed area around it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many animals are in the Planet Zoo base game?
Seventy three at launch on 5 November 2019, despite Frontier initially stating fifty. Later DLC packs added more, including the Australia Pack in August 2020.
What is the difference between Franchise and Sandbox?
Franchise runs on Conservation Credits earned by releasing animals and connects to an online Animal Market shared with other players. Sandbox gives unlimited money and no constraints, so nothing you do there feeds the credit economy.
How many Career scenarios are there?
Twelve, starting with Stately Home Schooling at Goodwin House and finishing with The Last Leg at the Bernie Goodwin Memorial Zoo in Upper Bay, New York. The first three are tutorials.
How do I earn Conservation Credits quickly?
Breed animals with high fertility and star ratings, keep welfare at 100 percent, and release healthy adults to the wild. Star rating drives the payout, so genetics work matters more than volume.
Why do my animals keep escaping?
Almost always the barrier. Each species is rated separately for climbing, jumping, digging and strength, so check those figures against the barrier type and height before you finish the habitat.
More Planet Zoo Guides
- Planet Zoo Planet Zoo Overview
- Planet Zoo Best Builds
- Planet Zoo Tier List
- Planet Zoo Walkthrough
- Planet Zoo Tips & Tricks
- Planet Zoo Weapons Guide
- Planet Zoo Combat Guide
- Planet Zoo Boss Guide
- Planet Zoo Maps & Locations
- Planet Zoo Crafting Guide
- Planet Zoo Classes & Characters
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