As someone who loves working with children, I have always felt that it seemed to many that in order for a game to be educational it had to sacrifice fun or vice versa. That is why I was especially excited to play the beta release of Zoo Tycoon 2, a game attractive to both adults and children.

In Zoo Tycoon 2, gamers will once again be able to create and/or control an entire zoo. This includes designing the layout and hiring staff along with tending to the animals living within it. Not only does this game give players the ability to customize fencing enclosures for their animals, but it also allows them to pick their animals and furnish their living quarters accordingly. In addition, players will be able to design and decorate the rest of the zoo around the enclosures, trying to maximize the zoo's aesthetics and profitability.

The game features a variety of animals from all over the world, from snow leopards to giant pandas to crocodiles. Animal lovers will get to care for their favorite animals while learning about some others. They will also get to learn about the natural habitats of these animals, and will gain some insight into their natural behavior.

The depictions of the animals and their habitats were impressive, done with great accuracy and detail. Not only did each animal move and interact with their enclosures appropriately, but sometimes they even interacted with the surrounding zoo appropriately. For example, during one challenge, I opted to use a chain-link fence for the enclosure because it was cheap (it costs money to research other types of fencing). However, I made the mistake of placing an animal that could easily jump the fence within it. Needless to say, once frustrated, she had an easy time of it jumping the fence and chasing the zoo patrons. As I worked hard to chase her down, I was impressed that such details were taken into consideration. I also appreciated how unique I could make each animal's home. While each animal that came from the same climates and environments had the same basics with which to create their homes, I was given a lot of freedom to customize each home with those essentials. I could pick where there was a hill or valley, or its size, or how shallow or deep the water was. I could also pick exactly what plants and shrubbery I wanted in this enclosure, and where. Such freedom allowed me to be creative and educated while having fun.

However, I encountered several glitches and bugs during my tenure as a zoo creator and owner. Firstly, this game has great potential to be very informative and educational while being fun and expressive at the same time. It was chock full of visual information which gamers could easily see, but neglected to share new information with text as well. For instance, while my zookeeper "suggested" many different types of homes for my leopards, there was never any written text explaining to me their preference of a raised platform over a cave dwelling. I figured this out on my own through trial-and-error, a costly method by which to learn. This sort of hard knocks lesson also occurred when my animal jumped the fence; if I had an explanation of the advantages and disadvantages to chain-link fencing for this animal, she would not have been able to escape and wreak havoc. The "Zoopedia," which was supposed to explain anything and everything to players, had not been fully implemented yet.

While there was a map at my disposal of my ever-evolving zoo, all I could do with it was see where all the stationary items and animals were. It would have been nice to use the aerial view of the zoo to help plan out my zoo, instead of simply adding to it as I went along. Also, while it would show me where the cages, buildings, and animals were, it would not show me where the zookeepers and other staff members were. It felt odd that I could not use the map to locate the staff members, who were constantly moving about the zoo. There weren't any quick keys for them, which became frustrating, since I could not find them when an animal was in need. It would have also been nice to be able to prioritize the zookeeper's responsibilities; while they did exercise free will, it was frustrating to watch them rake poo instead of tending to a dying animal a few feet from them.

There were a few other bugs that need to be addressed. For instance, there were pathfinding problems; the times when staff would need to run to the staff center for supplies to help a sick animal, they would struggle to find their way out of the pen, through the gate, to the staff center, and back. Many times my animals died before the staff member was able to find their way back into the enclosure. In addition, several times zoo patrons would walk right through fences without a care in the world. The collision problems did not stop here; while it was great that the contours of the land could be altered to accommodate each animal, many times both animals and their keepers would get stuck in the hills and valleys. Some of my animals would try to climb up the hills to get their food, get stuck, and starve to death unless I moved them myself. Another bug concerned the AI of the game. Many times zoo patrons would continue to scream after an escaped animal was put back into his or her home; the only way to stop these screaming patrons in this beta was to remove them from the zoo. Also, many patrons would scream and run when a crocodile in her pen snapped in their direction while still behind a fence. Several animals would become ill or even die from lack of food, even though I had placed numerous troughs of food in their enclosures.

When it came to building the enclosures, I thought it was great that I could customize their size and shape, but found it difficult to alter the shape after forming it because I could only sell and remove the fencing one section at a time. I also found the alerts to be somewhat hard to pay attention to. Many times it would keep telling me that my patrons could not find any ATM machines. I would put more ATM machines, and stop paying attention to the alerts, which would eventually change to a new one. However, there seemed to be no difference between an alert telling me that I need more ATM machines versus an animal escaping or dying. There should be a big difference depending on the seriousness of the alert, accompanied by an audible alert.