Snow leopards are my absolute favourite animals in the world. I would die happy if I ever got the chance to see one in real life (from a great distance of course, lest it de-grundle me). Alas, the closest that most of us will get in our lives is to play Planet Zoo – easily the best zoo simulator out there right now.
Planet Zoo always seemed like an incredibly dense game, the kind that might take dozens or even hundreds of hours before you get a good handle on how to play it well. I was reluctant to give up that much of my free time to it, until I gave it a go and played through the tutorial. “I could always refund it if I don’t get into it”, I thought. And not 5 minutes into the tutorial, there it was. Curled up in a ball underneath a rock outcropping, fast asleep. Long white whiskers. Big furry paws. The most boopable nose. The most gorgeous kitty cat. I melted.
I can’t really recall the rest of the tutorial. People kept popping up and telling me to fix various things about the zoo, but it was just noise. I must’ve spent the next 10 minutes in photo mode, just staring at the peaceful little snow leopard, until it finally woke up with a stretch and padded off to soak up some sun. From that point onward, there was no chance of me refunding the game.
