Best Of
Let’s Build a Zoo vs. Let’s Build a Dungeon

The simulation game Let’s Build a Zoo launched in 2021 to a positive reception, thanks to its fun, creative, and versatile gameplay design. Now, the game’s developer, Springloaded, has recently announced another game inspired by the same concept: Let’s Build a Dungeon. The latter game expands on the former game’s concept and introduces a new niche drastically different from zoos.
While Let’s Build a Dungeon is still under development, the developers have shared plenty of information about its overall features. Here is a comprehensive comparison of Let’s Build a Zoo versus Let’s Build a Dungeon.
What is Let’s Build a Zoo?

Let’s Build a Zoo is a simulation game that lets players build and manage elaborate zoos. The game’s zoo management mechanics are extensive and realistic, creating many fun and sometimes challenging activities for players to enjoy. Your overall objectives are building a zoo, stocking it with diverse animals and managing their welfare, hiring and managing staff to work in the zoo, and keeping your visitors happy. The game was developed by Springloaded and released in 2021.
What is Let’s Build a Dungeon?

Let’s Build a Dungeon is an upcoming simulation game from Springloaded, the same developer behind Let’s Build a Zoo. Interestingly, the upcoming game is based on the former’s concept. However, it involves managing a gaming studio and building MMORPG games instead of building and managing a zoo. Like the former, the upcoming game’s studio management mechanics are extensive and realistic. The game’s objectives are to ensure that your virtual gaming studio runs smoothly and develops good games that your virtual players can enjoy.
Story

Both games have a hands-on approach from the get-go, and neither has much of a background story to go on. The basic story is that you are a zoo manager in Let’s Build a Zoo and a gaming studio manager in Let’s Build a Dungeon. Fortunately, you don’t need a story to enjoy either game.
Let’s Build a Zoo Gameplay

The overall gameplay in Let’s Build a Zoo involves building and managing zoos, which entail many diverse activities. Building a zoo is the easy part, and you will spend most of your time managing the zoo, animals, staff, and visitors.
First, you must build a zoo with the necessary infrastructure and amenities for your visitors and diverse animals. For example, you can build enclosures for animals, viewing areas for visitors, and many other infrastructure and amenities. Building a zoo is easy, and the game provides you with everything you need to bring out your creativity. However, you need a strategic building plan to make the zoo beautiful and ensure everything runs smoothly.
Next, you must stock your zoo with diverse animals. The game offers 500 animals to start with. Moreover, you can splice the different animals together to create over 300,000 combinations of new animal species. For example, you can splice together a chicken and cow to create a Chickow. The possibilities are endless, and this is one of the game’s most creative and fun aspects.
In addition to stocking animals, you must ensure their welfare by providing them with food, good living conditions, and everything else they need. As such, you must hire a team of qualified and reliable staff, such as vets, cleaners, and trainers, to help you with the zoo’s management. Hiring employees involves assessing their qualifications, such as education and work experience. Moreover, you must manage the employees to ensure they do their jobs well.
Finally, you must meet your visitors’ requirements and keep them happy. Notably, your visitors’ happiness depends on many variables, such as the zoo’s design and the available animal types and species.
Let’s Build a Dungeon Gameplay

Instead of zoos, Let’s Build a Dungeon has you managing a gaming studio developing MMORPG games in diverse genres. The gameplay’s concept is mostly the same, but the activities and playstyles are drastically different. Interestingly, the gameplay has two layers to it, whereby you can run the studio and play the games you develop within the game.
Running a game studio requires a team of experts and professionals in diverse fields. For example, you need programmers, artists, and planners to design and develop the game. You also need marketers to advertise the game. As such, you must hire a competent staff. The recruitment process is flawless, and you must review hundreds of applicants’ resumes. You must also manage your team well to turn it into game development experts.
Next, your team must develop fun games that can become popular with virtual players. Interestingly, you can choose to develop games in diverse genres, ranging from charming farming simulators to action-adventure games and RPGs. The game offers thousands of objects to work with when designing your games, including environments, characters, and items like weapons and tools. As the title suggests, you can also design dungeons and fit them with objects such as weapons, treasure, enemies, and traps.
Your games must be good to attract as many virtual players as possible, earning enough to keep your investors happy. You can watch virtual players play the games in real time. You can also decide on job classes for your virtual players.
Moreover, you can decide the progress of games in real time to keep your audience engaged. For example, you can increase drop rates if players are struggling or increasing enemies to keep them earning XP. Interestingly, you can play the various games you design within Let’s Build a Dungeon.
Verdict

Whether either game is better than the other ultimately depends on your tastes and preferences. Animal lovers may find Let’s Build a Zoo better, while game development enthusiasts are likely to favor Let’s Build a Dungeon. Moreover, both games are based on a similar concept, and you can find each enjoyable in its unique way. Besides, it is still too early to make a definitive verdict, as Let’s Build a Dungeon is still under development.
So, what’s your take on our comparison of Let’s Build a Zoo versus Let’s Build a Dungeon? Let us know on our socials here or in the comments below.









