zooloretto
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Review: Zooloretto game app turns your iPhone into a cute little zoo, with brains
When Zooloretto hit the board game scene in 2007, it pretty much became an immediate hit. It won the Spiel des Jahres (German Game of the Year) that year, after all. Sure, there was a lot of love for the basic game mechanics thanks to the elegant and popular card game Coloretto that came out in 2003, but gamers enjoyed the colorful animal graphics, the new decisions that needed to be made and, as time went on, plenty of expansions (14 small and large ones, plus the standalone game Aquaretto that can also be combined with Zooloretto. The Zooloretto iPhone and iPod touch app (US $4.99) includes just one of those expansions – the polar bear – but it's a great introduction to the series. Serious board gamers who think that Zooloretto is a too-fancy version of Coloretto might find the app winning them over, because the play time is much shorter than the tabletop version (around 10-15 minutes, which is just a little bit longer than Coloretto takes, instead of 45). Gamers new to the 'retto series will find lots to like in this strategy game. The app is not a perfect representation of the board game, but it is a heck of a lot of fun. Read on to learn more about Zooloretto. %Gallery-85424%
Award-winning board game Zooloretto in the App Store now
Chillingo is not kidding about iPhone releases lately -- it seems like every other day they're premiering a new download in the App Store, for better or worse. Their website calls them "The Leading Publisher of iPhone Games," and it seems like they're definitely pushing for quantity. But there are some good gems in the mix (have you tried Zen Bound yet?), and Zooloretto looks like it might be another. The $4.99US game is based on an award-winning board game in which you have to balance zoo animals of varying sizes with pen space, all while bringing in as many visitors as possible. Like all great board games, it looks pretty simple to start out, but more and more complicated as you go along. And the fact that it's turn-based makes it perfect for the iPhone, when you can play in small spurts and keep a strategy rolling over time.If there's a drawback, it's that the game might be too simple -- it's meant as a family game, so really hardcore strategy geeks might not find enough here to dig into (it's too bad we haven't seen a quality Settlers port, or maybe even a version of Puerto Rico). And it's too bad there's no lite version to try before you buy. But if you're looking for a nice little strategy game to play around with occasionally, and enjoy a well-designed board game, Zooloretto is worth a look.
