Planet Zoo update 1.0.3 lets you stop animals from dying of old age

Planet Zoo received a sizeable update today that apparently contains more than 400 fixes and updates, including plenty of squashed bugs and a bunch of new options that will let you further customise your sandbox zoos. After having a great time during beta, I've cooled on it since launch thanks to some bugs and management woes, so I'm hoping this will help me get my zoos back on track.

There are lots of little tweaks, like suspended grazers now being able to serve up to four animals instead of one, UI fixes and scenario improvements, but the headline attraction is the new list of Sandbox mode options, which you can check out below.

Power usage
Water treatment
Fence degradation
Predation/fear
Death by old age
Staff happiness degradation
Staff energy degradation
Animal welfare needs
Maximise guest happiness
Freeze guest needs

The guest limit setting has also been added to both Sandbox and Challenge modes, along with unlocked assets from scenarios.

Planet Zoo is a very playful, chipper game, so dead animals cause a dramatic change in tone and, frankly, make me very gloomy, so I couldn't be happier with the ability to let them live forever. As it should be. This update specifically lets you stop them dying of old age, though they can still die for other reasons. Luckily there's already an option to cancel death entirely.

The Sandbox mode is where you'll want to go if you don't want to worry about cash or other limitations, letting you run free and design whatever kind of zoo you fancy. Challenge mode was added after beta feedback and is essentially the same as Franchise mode, but it's offline and doesn't let you run multiple zoos.

Update 1.0.3 is available now, and you can check out the rest of the patch notes here.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.