Can we add a "tired" setting, please?

The moment I discovered that Planet Zoo 2 included aquariums, I smashed that pre-order button. Don't get me wrong, I love me a giraffe, but I find massive aquariums to be both soothing and inspiring. The aquarium is my favorite place to hang out in Animal Crossing; I still wish fishing games would copy Sega Marine Fishing and add your catches to a growing aquarium collection. And so when Planet Zoo 2 unlocked a week early, I leapt to the couch...and was overwhelmed pretty much instantly.

Planet Zoo 2 gives you a great deal of control over just about every aspect of your zoo, down to the mix of bushes you want to appear when you add greenery to a habitat. The height of windows, the color of pathways, the shape of pretty much everything — the game wants you to have as much freedom as possible to create the zoo of your dreams. And I love that, because I know for certain there are a lot of people just itching to impose their imagination on that digital space. I, on the other hand, am too damn tired for all that.

I play games when I get done work in the hour or two I have before dinner, and there is just too damn much going on in Planet Zoo 2 for me to relax. To be fair, part of that business is due to the UI, which was pretty clearly designed for PC first and everything else a very distant second. There are just so many different tabs to navigate on the left, bottom, and right of the screen, and menus within those tabs. Given how much control Planet Zoo 2 gives you, and the fact that all of those tabs have to encompass everything involved in running a zoo, or an aquarium, or a nature reserve — which itself includes removing invading species from an ecosystem, shipping animals too and fro, setting up cameras and watchtowers — it's not surprising that there's a lot going on. But damn, there's a lot going on. Too much for me. Engaging with the game feels impossible when I'm already worn out from work, and I find myself turning to something with less friction.

I do not for one moment want to take away everything PZ2 is offering players, but I do wish it had a "tired" option that would dumb down the controls to their most simplistic. Build habitat, put animal in habitat, take picture of animal. Yes, I know there are games that are designed to be that kind of pared down experience, but that tends to apply to all aspects of the game. I love that PZ2 puts so much effort to be accurate about conservation efforts and teaching you about the proper environments for animals to be happy and healthy. I adore the respect it shows for all of its animals. And, when I have the time and brainspace to do it, I'd love the opportunity to obsess over every last detail of my zoos and aquariums.

I'd just also like the option to push button, get shark. That's all I'm saying.