“We went to all the zoos in and around the Boston area,” Galpern said. “We even sent a team out to the San Francisco Zoo to do a visit. And this is just the art folks, concept artists, and animators. It was really important to us to understand the reality around these animals, what they were like, and what their environments were like.”

Levesque said he read plenty of books ahead of development, ranging from zoo design to the ethics of keeping animals in captivity. He talked with zookeepers, observed animals, and thought deeply about how it all could translate into gameplay. Blue Fang considered everything, including poop. Wheeler showed me a reference book, “The Encyclopedia of Poo,” from development when I visited him at his Massachusetts home to talk about the game."

- Nicole Carpenter, Polygon