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/ Genres / Simulation / SimSafari

SimSafari

Windows - 1998
Also available on: Mac

Yet another entry in Maxis' popular "Sim..." series, SimSafari is a fun game for kids that let you build your own park and camp area, populating them with animals of your choice.

As befits a game designed primarily for kids, SimSafari is very easy. You basically just click on what you want to buy (buildings, animals, plants, cars, and so on) from pop-up menus, then click the location you want to place it. That's all there is to the game, and similar to SimTown this is more of a "toy" than a real game.

Since you start the game with far too much money than you'll ever need and everything is very cheap, there is never a danger of running out of money, which is the only way to 'lose' in this game. In the rare case that you are not sure what to do next, you need to just click on the "advice" button to let the game tell you exactly what to do.

On the upside, the graphics are very nice - you can even tell apart the different plant species, and notice little realistic details such as sunshine reflecting off car's roofs. And young kids in your house will probably like building their own safari and seeing the animals run around and interact with the environment (as well as spectators).

Recommended only for very young gamers in the house. For a real strategy game about running zoos, check out recent titles like Seaworld Tycoon instead.

Review By HOTUD

How to Play

To install the game in Windows 7+, follow the instructions on the PCGW game.

Comments and reviews

Gtw 15 Mar. 2026

If I can't just download it then fuck this bs. Why tf didnt you alter the son of a bitch yourself and then uploaded it.

-2
Dougster 18 Oct. 2025

Downloading SimSafari. I hope this works.

1
slumpkitty 01 Oct. 2025

It works but I cant save or access saves :(

0
VERSY 11 Sep. 2024

For anyone who downloaded the Rip version and are missing videos and only see a picture of a lizard when you click on an animal: you need to download the ISO version of the game, open it, copy the contents of the DATA folder into the DATA folder of the Rip version, then it will work.

2
AJ 20 Jun. 2024

THANK YOU. Can't wait to play. Simon's comment about adding those lines to the .init file worked perfectly.

0
MACBOOK Air 2022 29 Apr. 2024

What do I need to do in order to download for MacBook Air 2022?

Oh yea, I though of this game whilst driving and out of no where did the same come to mind after so many years.

-1
Valerie 09 Mar. 2024

Thanks Simon, that worked for me!

-1
malech 26 Jan. 2024

When I click on an animal, it shows the correct name, correct description, but will always display a picture of the same lizard.

3
Fer77ghj 17 Nov. 2023

Badly with every version i try it says the archive is damaged.

0
Simon 07 Apr. 2023
Top comment

Download the "Rip" Version
open the simsafari ini and put fallowing in it. after that gamefolder works everywhere

[smacker]
path=.\data

[spud]
main=.\smsafari.spd
strings=.\strings.spd
sounds=.\sounds.spd

[Options]
NoSound=0
NoBackgroundMusic=0

[Save]
path=.\SAVEGAME
missions=.\missions

10
Erica 14 Mar. 2023

Thank you so much Matt! Was able to install with my Windows 11 Home.
I played this game at my computer class and didn't even know how to play and read all those English subtitles lmao but now I'm 26 and finally be able to enjoy this game perfectly!

1
milowo 18 Feb. 2023

my brain just decided to randomly resurface some old memories of playing on my daycare's blocky, slow computer when i was about nine. there was a sims town, sims ants, ms paint- but my favorite by far was this game. i spent hours looking up "old sims park game" "old sims zoo game" and, after seeing the graphics for SimSafari, I knew this was definitely it.

my family was deep in poverty at when i was that age. we could barely afford to eat, nonetheless own video game consoles. this is probably the game that sparked my love for building games :)

3
iCarly 10 Jan. 2022

if you download the "rip" version, extract it directly on the c drive, so that it's just a single folder "smsafari". It should work then.

To install elsewhere, just change the directory listed in smsafari.ini to match where you are storing the file.

0
Vyck 09 Aug. 2020

I followed the instructions Matt left about Mounting the ISO. I did that and found the ENSETUP folder and nothing happens :/ Please advice

-1
Joe 30 Jun. 2020
Top comment

If you download the game as zip you need to edit the ini file and change the file paths there to the correct ones

6
butz 04 May. 2020

If having problems with installer, download 32-bit installer https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/364-installshield-5-32-bit-generic-installer/

2
Franzirene 12 Apr. 2020

I can download the game just fine but when I try to install it it says unsupported 16-bit application. What do I need to do?

-5
liv 03 Apr. 2020

does it work on a mac?

0
Kaz 18 Mar. 2020

many thanks Matt. your comment helped me to install simsafari on my computer.

-1
Janice 10 Feb. 2020

Enjoyed your game in the 90’s

-1
matt 06 Jun. 2019
Top comment

I did this to install on Windows 10 successfully:
1) Download the ISO version.
2) Mount the ISO. Look this up on google if you don't know how to do this.
3) Navigate to the SETUP folder on the mounted DVD image.
4) Install using ENSETUP.EXE

Try that and you should be set.

14
Billz 18 Jan. 2019

I really like simsafari, unfortunately I can't install this on my computer.
I think something is wrong with the files on this website.
None of the versions worked.

3
Cyn 18 Sep. 2018
Top comment

I obsessed over this game when I was a kid. I could get a 5 star park in like 15 minutes. A decade later, I got a job driving the safari truck at Disney World and my trainer was in shock that I knew every animal already, including the kudus and guineafowl. It was a proud day. lol

27
Dogo 31 May. 2018

I remember this game from back when I was a kid. Like the reviewer commented, it is like SimTown and the other games from the Sim like aimed to younger audiences. It is a mix between a toy and an educational game, teaching a little about biodiversity and balance, like migratory events (as in: in dry seasons the animals leave to look for food, or if it is an overabundance of food and no predators you'll face a populational explosion of a certain species). Not challenging, but it can be fun for kids.

1

No comment nor review for this game at the moment.

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Downloads

Windows version
RIP Version
United Kingdom English
23 MB
ISO Version
United Kingdom English
145 MB
ISO Version
Denmark Danish
265 MB
ISO Version
Sweden Swedish
92 MB
Mac version
ISO Version
Sweden Swedish
140 MB

Extras

Manual Manual 1
Extra file
Windows 423 KB English English

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