[1] Choices in terrain, foliage, rocks, shelters, fences, toys and the presence of zookeepers all contribute to the suitability of an exhibit and the happiness of the animal.

Scenery involves aesthetics that raise guest happiness slightly, such as topiary art, light posts, and benches.

Keeping both animal and guest happiness high allows the player to gain monetary awards and maintain a steady income.

To help manage the expanding zoo, players can employ maintenance workers, zookeepers and tour guides.

Blue Fang Games originally considered making a simulation game where the player would manage an airport, before the idea was dismissed by CEO Hank Howie, citing that compared to places like theme parks, airports are not "fun".

[5] The team learned how zoos work in order to figure out where they were allowed to take creative liberties, citing that during the development for the Marine Mania expansion, the team gave dolphins the ability to do tricks that were not completely realistic because they thought it was more fun.

[5] The development team also carefully tried to strike a balance between teaching players about conservation and entertainment, citing the educational efforts put forth in real zoos.

The expansion allows players to create and manage underwater exhibits or merge aquatic tanks with traditional land habitats.

Zoo Tycoon was received with mixed to positive reviews, gaining an average 68 out of 100 at Metacritic.

[17] Eric Bratcher reviewed the PC version of the game for Next Generation, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "A pleasant diversion, but it's about as deep as a puddle, and frustratingly finicky.

"[11] Zoo Tycoon and its compiled Complete Collection garnered several awards and accolades, gaining the Bologna New Media Prize in 2002.

[23] NPD proceeded to rank the game's Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection bundle 10th for 2004, 16th for 2005 and 12th for 2006.