Chris Crawford was approached in early 1989 by Epyx's Joe Miller about working on an environmental game to coincide with the film Voice of the Planet to be released for Earth Day in 1990.

While wary of licensed games, he developed a design concept that explored the intricate connections between ecological and economic factors.

Walker concluded by giving the game above average ratings of 8 out of 10 for both gameplay and graphics, saying, "You'd have to be a right plonker not to find Balance of the Planet fascinating in some way.

[4] In the January 1991 edition of Compute!, Richard O. Mann wrote that the game offered a challenging, intellectual, effective, and thoughtful consideration of the "ultimate puzzle" that world leaders face on a day-to-day basis.

[8] In December 1991 edition of Environmental History Review, Dan Holder appreciated that the title challenged the common desire for people to find simple solutions to complex problems.

[3] In 2012, Crawford created a Kickstarter project for a remake of Balance of the Planet, which would be made free on the internet.