Successfully managing your finances is key in Planet Zoo. You’ll need to have a steady influx of both cash and conservation credits if you want to grow your zoo and keep it afloat.
Successfully managing your finances is key in Planet Zoo. You’ll need to have a steady influx of both cash and conservation credits if you want to grow your zoo and keep it afloat.
Cash
Cash is used to build your zoo infrastructure and pay your staff.
You earn cash from:
- Shops and guest facilities.
- Donation boxes.
- Zoo entrances.
While playing Planet Zoo it’s not uncommon for you to enter periods of negative cash flow, where you are spending more than you’re making. Don’t worry if this happens temporarily while you set up new habitats and expand your zoo.
Cash flow should only become a concern if you’re losing money for an extended period of time – if that’s the case, you’ll need to make some savings if you want to keep your zoo afloat!
Conservation Credits
Conservation Credits allow you to adopt higher tier animals into your zoo.
In both online and offline modes you can earn them by:
- Releasing animals to the wild. Animals with a higher interest rating, ones in their prime and with high rated genes will earn more credits.
To earn more Conservation Credits in Franchise Mode (online) you can:
- Trade animals on the animal market.
- Contribute to Community Challenges.
- Greet other players’ avatars when they enter your zoo.
To earn more Conservation Credits offline you can:
- Improve your Zoo Reputation
- Ensure guests leave your zoo with a high level of education.
Conservation credits are not shared between franchise mode and offline modes.
Ticket Pricing
Ticket pricing should be set in accordance with the size and quality of the zoo and relates to its zoo points total. Guests that believe they are overpaying will enter the zoo in a less happy state than those that believe they are getting value for money.
Beware, if the ticket price is set too high guests will not enter the zoo at all!
Item Pricing
Most items that can be sold to guests have a bill of materials value. This is what it costs the zoo to make this item. If it is sold for more than this value, the zoo makes a profit.
As a rule of thumb, guests are happy to pay twice as much as the material cost for food and drink and four times for souvenirs – they may pay more if they're already happy.
Adoption packs, which have a high sales value, do not cost the zoo anything to make and are therefore sold at 100% profit. They can be very lucrative.
Marketing
A zoo's appeal can be given a boost using a marketing campaign. There are three levels of marketing, each giving a progressively higher benefit in return for increased expenditure.
In total, 15% of a zoo's reputation is based on their marketing campaign so investing in advertising can make a big difference to the number of guests a zoo attracts.
Loans
The number and type of loans available are set per scenario. Taking out a loan gives an immediate cash injection to the zoo. This can be useful to get a zoo off the ground or to help with resolving a cash flow issue. Each year, the outstanding amount on the loan increases by a fixed percentage as the interest on the debt builds. The loan can be paid off yearly with a set amount, or as a total sum at any given point without penalty.