Wildlife enthusiasts can now play a game solely from the animal’s point of view in Venture Africa. Here, there is no money to earn, no crowds to please, and no species to save. Instead, the goal is simply to learn as much as possible about each animal’s behavior and habitat needs, and to act accordingly.

On startup, players will begin in the Story mode. There is a sandbox mode as well, but this can only be played after the sandbox levels are unlocked in the Story mode. In the story mode, players will have to achieve goals, but these are mostly to due with creating a certain number of animals. Creating animals is very simple, as all that is required is a supply of flowers (the coin of choice for this game) to purchase an animal. Clicking on the animal icon in the bottom menu will allow players to place the animal anywhere on the screen with the cursor. There are also jewel objectives to be met, which will earn jewels that are necessary to purchase plants for the animals.

While this game is designed to be easily accessible, it’s not as easy as it first looks. The gameplay is fast-paced, even on the easy level, and animals will begin to die off right and left if something isn’t quite right in their biosphere. Fortunately, most of these problems are not difficult to recover from, and will usually just require more edible plants, water and some more animals to replace the ones that died.

The graphics are fairly run-of-the-middle, with slightly blocky-appearing animals and clunky landscapes. They’re still decent, though. The sound is average, with a fair smattering of sound effects, but not any background music.

The interface is easy to learn and navigate, everything is available from the bottom menus. The animals can be clicked on for additional information, and they are easy to follow with the camera viewpoints with the mouse. The animals can also be directed with the mouse, in a rather neat fashion. If an animal is clicked on, the player can hold down the mouse button and “direct” the animal to the desired location.

And that’s about all, folks. This is a budget game, and offers decent gameplay, but no frills or extras in the graphics department. There also aren’t really that many animals to play around with, either. However, being able to just play with the animals without worrying about building rides and earning money is a nice alternative for some. An average simulation game that may entertain for a few hours, but one that doesn’t really have the depth or quality to hold interest for very long.

Gameplay: 6.0
This game is a pretty average gaming experience.

Graphics: 6.0
The graphics are also very average.

Sound: 5.0
Not much going on in the sound or music department.

Difficulty: Medium
There are three difficulty levels to choose.

Concept: 7.0
There’s not a whole lot of new ideas here, but the movement of the animals with the mouse is neat. Having the focus just on the animals is different from many games of this type, too.

Overall: 6.0
An average animal simulation game at a budget price. Worth a look if one loves African animals, but players wanting deeper strategy in their simulations may want to pass.