The twisted animals of horror zookeeping sim Zoochosis will be released from their cages in autumn

Animal caretaking sim Zoochosis is about being an ordinary zookeeper working in an ordinary zoo. What’s that? There are no ordinary zoos? My mistake. Let me start again. Animal caretaking horror game Zoochosis is about being a stressed-out zookeeper in a hideous zoo where the giraffes have tendrils coming out of their chests and the kangaroos have rows of chattering teeth in their marsupial pouch. There, got it right in the end. We’ve known about the development of this terror-heavy tourist attraction since its announcement early this year. But now the upcoming horror sim has been given an autumn release date in a new trailer.

It’s coming out September 23rd, say developers Clapperheads. “Zoochosis”, as Edwin informs us, is an actual term for the unusual behaviour exhibited by animals in real life zoos, such as pacing or excessive scratching. But usually the zebras of reality don’t grow a set of fully functioning gnashers in their anus. It is these travails you’ll be dealing with as the feeder and cleaner of the wildlife in the upcoming horror game.

“Interact with the animals, take care of them, choose and prepare a meal for them, restock and clean up after them in the enclosure,” says the game’s blurb on Steam, while also noting something is deeply wrong with the animals. “But you can save them. You can discover the cause of the infection, create a vaccine and cure them.”

I enjoy the creature design on display, and the obligatory suggestion that humanity is responsible for the monstrofication of the animal kingdom and earth’s natural bounty as a whole. I’m not sure how deep the sim elements go and how much it will veer off into straight horror. We’ll have to wait and see. Either way, I’m certain it’ll appeal to a lot of fans of Carpenter-esque nightmares as well as the “fucked-up theme park” aficionados. Some people get their escapism from pretending to be a farmer in Stardew Valley and petting the nice chickens. Others? Others want to mop up the human viscera from the floor of the bone-hippo enclosure. Let’s just be glad there is a place for animal lovers of all stripes in this world.