Three game modes: which one to start with
Planet Zoo 2 has three modes. In each of them you can build zoos and Wildlife Reserves.
| Mode | What it is | Progress and requirements | Who it suits at the start |
|---|---|---|---|
| Career | the FEN story, you play a Conservation Coordinator; scenarios award Bronze, Silver and Gold medals | medals raise your Accreditation Tier | first choice for new players |
| Franchise | your network of zoos and reserves around the world, animal trading with other players, Community Challenges | Cash is separate in each zoo, Conservation Credits (CC) are shared across the whole Franchise; requires a Frontier account and an internet connection | after Career |
| Sandbox | building without pressure | unlimited funds, all animals and regions from the start | learning to build and experimenting |
Career starts with Career → "Start New Career +" and your first location in Chapter 1 ("Travel to Wildlife Reserve"). Keep in mind that, according to the GRYOnline review, the tutorial is spread across the whole campaign and isn't very detailed, and some features are only explained on loading screens. More: Career mode step by step.
There is no separate "Challenge" mode: it is one of three Sandbox presets (Default, Creative, Challenge). Wildlife Reserves are a type of location, not a mode (how reserves work). Accreditation is separate for each mode: Career medals won't raise your level in Franchise (Accreditation and CC).
Every mode has the Planet Hub (the globe icon): a map screen that switches between your zoos and reserves without leaving the save. It also brings trading, animal storage and research together in one place.
First steps in a new zoo
FEN's official checklist says: guest infrastructure first, then staff infrastructure, and animal infrastructure last.
- Biome, continent and terrain. Your biome and continent have a big impact on the map and the animals. Flat terrain is a flat square to build on, Sculpted has natural landforms.
- Entrance and paths. You place the entrance from Facilities → Services → Zoo Entrance; click it to set adult and child ticket prices. According to players, the entrance gives you a free power radius (check it in Heatmaps → Utilities → Power); beyond it you need a generator.
- The guest minimum. Players on Reddit suggest starting with one food shop, one drink shop, one toilet and an info booth, plus Donation Bins.
- Staff buildings: Keeper Hut, Staff Room, Trade Centre, Quarantine, then Vet Surgery and Research Centre. Each one needs power and path access.
- Your first habitat. Close a loop of Habitat Barrier and place exactly one Staff Gate. Select the habitat and use Pin Species to see a species' requirements before you buy any animals. Add feeders, shelter, enrichment, plants and viewing windows for guests. The Traversable Area heatmap shows whether an animal could escape somewhere.
- Adoption. Once the Trade Centre is built and connected by a path, you adopt an animal in Trading & Storage; it goes to Animal Storage, then to Quarantine, and after the check into the habitat. A Caretaker or a Vet moves it. PawsBuild picks adult animals with no red genetic traits.
As first species, players recommend: warthog, wild boar, aardvark, meerkat, red deer, toucan and animals in small Exhibits. The full list with requirements is in our animal list, and fish and tanks are covered in our aquarium guide.
The Help menu with guides sits in the top-left corner, next to the Zoopedia and the Timeline with alerts. P pauses the game, O changes the speed (up to 3×).
Animal welfare and Thriving
Welfare is made up of four areas: Animal Status (hunger, thirst, comfort, cleanliness, safety), Social (group size, space), Environment (terrain, plants, drinking water) and Enrichment (toys and feeders). Low welfare means disease, protesting guests and earlier death.
- Thriving is a new state "above welfare". It requires researching the species (sometimes in a reserve). Thriving animals live longer, and guests donate more.
- Food and water: feeding is scheduled per season. Without food (or water) for an extra season an animal starves (or becomes thirsty), and after two extra seasons it dies. A Keeper Hut has to be within range of the habitat. You change food quality in Zoo Management → Animals → Food.
- Shelter and temperature: check the Shelter and Temperature heatmaps. Heaters and coolers have to be set manually in their panel.
- Stress: give animals somewhere out of the guests' sight, one-way glass or Do Not Disturb signs.
- Essentials: this button in the build menu shows only objects with a function (habitat equipment, shops, Donation Bins). If you can't find something, check whether it is switched on.
Guests
Guests have five needs: Energy, Hunger, Thirst, Toilet Need and Education. Education comes from boards, speakers, Animal Talks and audio guides; a guest is fully educated about a species after 5 topics, and two boards with the same topic don't count twice. Each guest has a Wish List of up to 5 animals. In Management → Guests, look at Guest Thoughts and fix the most common complaint first. Zoo Reputation (0–5★) has four parts: Animal Husbandry, Sustainability, Guest Education and Guest Experience. How to turn this into profit: how to make money.
Staff
The game has six roles: Keepers, Mechanics, Caretakers, Educators, Vendors and Vets. According to players, one Keeper, one Mechanic and one Vet are enough at the start, plus a Caretaker once you have shops and toilets. Shops hire their own Vendor automatically. Staff rest in the Staff Room; unhappy staff quit. Training takes them from 1★ to 5★, but after each level they expect a higher wage. FewCandy's advice: one Keeper per 1–2 habitats and the Keeper Hut close to the gate. You set up Work Zones in Management → Staff.
Research
Research is done by a Vet or a Keeper in a Research Centre (Small: 1 person, Large: 6). There are four types: Species, Enrichment, Education and Disease. Researching a species gives you an education topic, the ability to create Release Groups, a fertility bonus and Thriving Requirements. Feeding and treatment take priority, so busy staff research more slowly.
Common beginner mistakes
- Building too much at once. A player on Reddit: "I used all the money… 23k left". Build the minimum and expand once you have income.
- A predator as your first animal. Players say the cost of meat outweighs the income. PawsBuild shows the periodic food cost: about $450 per aardvark, about $850 per African leopard.
- Planning your zoo around locked species. Check the padlock and the tier number in the Zoopedia.
- A habitat without a Staff Gate, or a Null Barrier without a natural obstacle: your animals will escape.
- Fresh and salt water on one filter network. A saltwater tank needs its own filter.
- A long Franchise session during maintenance. Check the Steam announcements; known issues are in our bugs and problems guide.
What changed from Planet Zoo 1
| Area | What is different in Planet Zoo 2 |
|---|---|
| New features | aquariums with fully aquatic species, aviaries with flying birds, Wildlife Reserves, the Planet Hub |
| Unlocking animals | in Franchise, Accreditation decides, not research alone; species that were "always available" in PZ1 may be locked |
| Building | bins and benches don't have to sit on a path, buildings can go on paths and have no negative radius, Nature Brush, scaling, Invisible Paths |
| Water filtration | a pipe network instead of a radius, with a Fresh/Brackish/Salt switch |
| Workshop | Frontier Workshop instead of Steam Workshop |
| Modes | according to GRYOnline, the simple timed challenge scenarios are gone |
| What's missing | cetaceans, multiplayer (playing with friends) |
Settings that make the start easier
- Sandbox Settings: when you create a Sandbox zoo you can set Economy and Animal Welfare, among others, to lower the difficulty.
- Edge Scrolling (moving the camera with the screen edge) returned in patch 1.0.5 under Keyboard and Mouse settings.
- Since 1.0.4 the default angle snap is 1° instead of 15°.
- Accessibility: UI scaling, Font Scale, separate audio sliders, key rebinding. You can also use a mouse and keyboard on console (PS5 and Xbox).
FAQ
How much money do I start with?
Frontier doesn't publish starting amounts (in Sandbox, funds are unlimited). Players report that a new Franchise zoo gets about $50,000 and 300 CC, but Frontier hasn't confirmed these numbers.
Does Career progress carry over to Franchise?
No. Accreditation is separate in each mode, and in Franchise it grows with your Zoo Reputation and the Biodiversity Rating of your reserves.
