Zoodemonium (Free Playtest)

Free playtest: download it right here

Zoodemonium is free to play during the preseason. Download the Windows build below. You don't need an itch.io account or the Discord.

1. Press Download, then unzip the file anywhere (not inside a zip viewer).
2. Run Zoodemonium.exe. If Windows says "Windows protected your PC", click More info, then Run anyway. The test build isn't code-signed yet.
3. Play. Online runs use the real registry, so rare catches get real certificates on zoodemonium.com. Everything caught in the preseason is cleared when Season 1 starts.

Want a quick look first? The free browser demo plays the first three days.

Play with me: Zoo Nights

Twice a week I host co-op sessions on the Discord: Fridays at 8:00 PM ET and Sundays at 2:00 PM ET. Hop into voice, join a crew of up to four, and break the zoo together. New players and solo players are welcome. - Dale

Tell me what you think

Every note helps. Use Send feedback in the game's pause menu, leave a comment below, or post in #bug-reports or #ideas-feedback on the Discord. What confused you? What made you laugh? When did you want to stop?

Catch monsters. Run a failing zoo. Try to stop them eating the tourists.

You and up to three friends inherit The Last Resort, the worst monster zoo in the world. Each day you ride the truck into the wilds to catch new monsters. Then you open the gates and keep everything fed, fenced and happy while the visitors pour in. Every monster has one simple, silly rule, and something always breaks loose.

• Truck Run (5 minutes). Follow the tracks through one of six biomes, toss bait, time your net for a Perfect catch, and haul the wriggling bundle to the truck before Dusty sounds the horn. Keep an eye on the truck: monsters sneak up to free their friends.
• Zoo Wave (5 minutes). Open the gates. Feed the pens, shovel up after the monsters, mend fences, restock the snack stands and net the escapees before they chomp a visitor.
• Night Shift (no timer). Build pens and paths, plan tomorrow's meals, hatch eggs and spend Field Notes on new tools, fences and habitats.

36 monsters, 36 rules. Miss a Blorp with your net and it splits in two. Honkbills snatch whatever you're holding and run. The Chompbox poses as a trash can. And when two monsters' rules collide, things chain together: 18 chain reactions to discover and use on purpose.

Rare monsters you can prove

Online runs can turn up Rares, Super Rares, Epics, Legendaries and Enchanteds, handed out worldwide by the Zoodemonium registry. Epics and Legendaries are numbered and capped each season. Every rare catch, and every Rare you breed, gets a certificate anyone can check on zoodemonium.com.

Bring your crew, or go solo

Up to four keepers share the truck and the zoo online. Playing alone? Hire keepers and give them orders: catch, haul or guard the truck. No microtransactions and no paid random items; rares can't be traded or sold.

How Zoodemonium is made

Zoodemonium is my design. I came up with the monsters, the zoo and how it all plays, and I make the final call on everything that goes in. I'm a disabled veteran, and long hours of typing and sitting at a desk aren't possible for me, so I use AI as an assistive tool: it turns my designs into the game's code and into some of the art. A human artist drew the original monster designs, and AI helped repaint them in HD. I review and playtest every change before it ships. - Dale

Made with AI before release (nothing is generated while you play): the code; the HD art, repainted from the artist's designs, and most buildings, props and interface art; placeholder music and sound effects; and the translations into seven languages, drafted with AI and being checked by native speakers.

Links

• Website and registry: zoodemonium.com
• Discord (Zoo Nights, crews, bug reports): zoodemonium.com/discord
• Privacy: zoodemonium.com/privacy