How do zoos procure the exotic animals that they care for and exhibit? In the real world it's a complex process of identifying wild animals that can be captured without danger to themselves or the environment, often requiring cooperation with conservationists, universities, and private dealers. In Rodeo Stampede, you rope them like a three-day-old calf, jump on their backs, and try not to run into a wall.The latest game from Crossy Road developer publisher Yodo1 and developer Featherweight Games isn't claiming to be anything close to authentic, but it's a lot of fun.

[EMBED_YT]https://youtu.be/06B-t8gHRuM

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Rodeo Stampede is split up into two segments: endless runner and park manager. You begin as a cowboy or cowgirl on a horse, holding down on any point of the screen and sliding left or right to steer. Release your finger and the rider will be launched forward over another animal (or, if your aim sucks, the ground). Tap and hold again to rope and mount the second animal, then slide again to steer. Rinse and repeat, as each critter will only let you ride it for a few seconds before it starts to buck uncontrollably. Find an animal you haven't caught yet, successfully land on its back and control it for a few seconds, and you win.

Once you've secured a new critter, it goes to your zoo. The second portion of the game plays out like any of the theme park or zoo management games that are already on the Play Store. You'll need to increase the level and value of the enclosures once you've captured animals, then manage the rest of the zoo to maximize income and open up new areas for new rides and new beasts.

Also, the zoo is on a flying airship for some reason. Hence "Sky Safari."

The graphics are simple and cute, and while the hold-release-hold motion of the rides is a bit jarring at first, it's easy to get used to. The cycle of the game is getting more animals so you can upgrade your zoo, which then lets you ride those animals for longer and catch new ones more easily, then upgrade your zoo some more, et cetera. The game lets you play the running portion with no real limits, but there's some serious grind built into the zoo portion to enable the in-app purchases. That said, they top out at $9, so they're not totally unreasonable.

[EMBED_APP]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yodo1.rodeo.safari[/EMBED_APP]