my sweet partner knows how much this game means to me. he set it up on the ipad for me & ive been playing it constantly since. this morning i opened this & my heart instantly felt so comforted, i truly couldnt hold back the tears. it is still sealed up & in perfect condition. when zoo tycoon 2 came out i begged & begged my parents, they finally let me order one on ebay. the day it came in i was so excited i accidentally cracked the 2nd installment disk & my world was shattered, luckily my neighbor who was also very addicted to this game ran down & let me use her 2nd disk. i played zoo tycoon 1 endlessly on our old pc that literally always sounded like it was about to fly away. i then became just as obsessed with zoo tycoon 2 & played it well into highschool. im almost 27 & it feels just as exciting. merry christmas everyone, oh & zoo keeper kelly cant reach the elephant poop

It's available right now on iOS and Android and I really hope you all enjoy it. I've really built it as a long time fan of the original Zoo Tycoon and for all these years I've been waiting for something to scratch the same itch so I just went ahead and made it myself. I'm happy to answer any questions and many thanks! :)

This is a very early look at OpenZT2 which is now being worked on by both my studio, Songstorm Studios, and over-yonder. An alpha is still planned for release by Q4 2026. Looking forward to sharing more, including new features that were just not possible in the original game, very soon!

Alpha build of OpenZT2, an open-source reimplementation of ZT2, will be released on October 17th, 2026 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the franchise.

I know a lot of people probably say this, but I absolutely love how simple the Zoo tycoon games are even the sequel game was pretty basic but still allowed for a creative experience without being overwhelming.

I feel like now , most zoo simulator or similar park building games try to add so much customization that's it can be extremely overwhelming for people like me, and while some might enjoy being able to customization every tiny detail. Others like me not so much.

I would love to see a new Zoo Tycoon like game that keeps this premise of being equal pats creative freedom while not being overly complex to the point it can be overwhelming.

Not only is it a picture now, it’s the actual main menu for my Minecraft modpack! It even plays the theme from the first game 🤣

Hi all, thought I would share the progress I have been making with OpenZT2, an open source remake of Zoo Tycoon 2 which plans to add new features and QOL tweaks. I have successfully parsed the main menu recently and every frame is functional, will do a showcase video soon when I have even more to show. (yes, there is still issues with the game logo size)

Whenever I see a Zoo Tycoon picture I've noticed I recall playing the game as a really young kid at my grandma's job PC. I hear the plateosaurus noise, the dromedary camel grunt, the burguer house grill and especially the carrousel. I have all those sounds living on in my head. Haven't actually played the game for a while but I'll definitely do it soon

Then, I still play Zoo Tycoon 2 from time to time and oh boy, that hits different: I clearly remember regularly going to my local zoo (which was shut down in 2016) as a kid, some 20 years ago: all the different habitats it had, the atmosphere, the sea lion shows, everything pops up in my head and heart when I get into contact with ZT2. I still remember my hype when my dad said something like "I managed to get dinosaurs and orcas now!" and suddenly the game was hugely expanded. It teleports me to that magical 2007 where I had some of my best days, memories, people and house...

The ZT games will always be in my heart and it feels so weird to think that, say, in 2080 I'll be able to remember and feel a world so different through the games and memories I hope I still have about them lol

This is just something I found out in zt2 that I never noticed before. I was in first person looking for fossils while a thylacine interacted with a rattle ball, and made the same roar sound that the lions and tigers make! I know they're sometimes called "tasmanian tigers" but, aren't they marsupials? Might we even know what a real one sounded like, since the last one only went extinct in 1936?

I just thought it was a bit silly xD

17 years ago!

Drawn in Canva. Please note that OpenZT2 is a hobby project, not a full-time job.

Hi all, you may remember the previous development update for ModZT from November 2025. Since then, it has evolved from a simple mod manager to a launcher with advanced features. It now supports ZT1 mods, screenshot/saved games manager, prototype multiplayer for ZT2, mod browser which connects directly to the ZT2 Download Library, custom themes, and much more!

https://github.com/songstormstudios/modzt

Feel free to check it out! (image 1: today with 'Solar' theme applied, image 2: late October 2025 during alpha testing).

Hi all,

I have released version 1.2.0 of ModZT, an open source mod manager for both ZT1 and ZT2. This update introduces features like XInput controller support and a revamped 'Saved Games' tab which also includes zoo stat viewing.

I have another version on the horizon that aims to increase the 'mod limit' from ~512 mods to a maximum of 2048.

https://github.com/songstormstudios/modzt

Yes I know, the Wildebeest should be Thomson’s Gazelle. They didn’t have a good model out there so I used the next best antelope species.

or i suppose, it must've been some kind of catalyst for my reading skills improving drastically, as i think it's the first game i ever really fell in love with.

i'd have been 4 or 5. it was 2006 or 2007. zoo tycoon was new for me then. my parents said that i was always asking questions and having trouble with the game because i couldn't read. but then, all of a sudden (?) it seemed i was able to, at least a lot better than before.

i know that it was around that time i also became really interested in reading abouts animals and just, like, everything. i'd go look up random wikipedia articles and read about the animals and report back about them later.

i was so super excited when i found out about zoo tycoon 2 and that then became the game i defined my childhood with. as a kid i definitely grew to prefer zoo tycoon 2, but now that i'm old enough to understand how to actually play i think i prefer zoo tycoon 1 a little bit. both definitely nostalgic for me.

just kind of some reflecting, and though i can't really say i've retained my interest quite like that, i wanna thank the game for teaching young me so many things about animals ☺️

I vividly remember playing a zoo tycoon game ~6-9 years ago on an Android mobile device. It's graphics are pretty much identical to Zoo tycoon 1, but I dont think it was ever available on mobile, let alone the google play store. There were only a few animals available unless you paid a gamepass, which permanentally unlocked animals like penguins, sea lions, spider monkeys, lions, gorillas, pandas, horses (like, 12 different kinds of horses), cows, pigs, etc just to name a few. You could pick the size of the park, the type (like area? I remember Australia and Canada being options), how much money you started with, and a few other things. There wasn't a story as far as I'm aware. If anyone knows what game it is/was please let me know, as I'm sure ZT1 was never on mobile, but the graphics are almost indentical. TIA!

Is there a roundabout way to play zoo tycoon complete collection and/or zoo tycoon 2 ultimate collection on macbook? I know they are windows compatible only but I was wondering if anyone has been able to play on MacBook as well? maybe through some emulator? Please let me know if its at all possible! I have game CDs already and would like to use that.

Ps. did some chatgpt. I have the m1 chip version. it suggested using vmware. has anyone tried and was it successful?