As a Family game, Zooloretto is an easy sell to adults and kids largely due to the theme and relative ease in covering the rules.

However, while the mechanics are solid and the presentation quality is high, the game lacks a certain depth to keep a sustained interest in the game after a while.

Enter Aquaretto. This game is actually a standalone title but can be played ( with variant rules ) in addition to Zooloretto.

By itself, it's quite a bit better than Zooloretto by giving you flexibility in extending your score beyond collecting groups of animals. For example, most animals have symbols on them beyond the Male/Female which allows you to accumulate further points at the end of the game.

Also, the zoo expansions are small, but numerous ( everyone gets 4 ) and you're permitted to expand your zoo in just about any direction you see fit. This is useful for extending the amount of certain types of animals to gain additional bonus coin and co-workers.

The co-workers add an entirely new layer to the game as their placement places them in a role which impacts your scoring at the end of the game:

If they are placed next to trainable animals such as Dolphins, Orcas and Sea Lions, you gain additional points for each animal to which they are orthogonally adjacent.

Alternatively, you can place them on the Zoo ticket offices or the food 'bins' which has alternate effects. If they are on the ticket office, you gain a point per coin per co-worker in the ticket offices ( there are only two ). If they are in the food bins, you gain a point per animal with the fish symbol per co-worker in the food bins ( there are also only two ).

With the new mechanics, the game is freshened up nicely and adds a little more depth to the lightweight original. If you liked Zooloretto, you'll definitely like Aquaretto. If you've never played either, I'd suggest starting with Aquaretto unless your kids are still quite young ( 3-5 ).