Disney announces Animal Kingdom Explorers hidden-object game with "nature preserve" theme

After scoring big with its Gardens of Time game on Facebook, Disney’s Playdom has announced new title in the hidden-object social game genre called Disney Animal Kingdom Explorers, inspired by its Animal Kingdom Park in Florida.

Like most hidden object games, players will search through various scenes in the game in order to find objects hidden in places such as the Rocky Mountains and the Amazon basin. Players become part of a Global Wildlife Research team looking for rare and endangered species through six chapters with a total of 36 scenes.

Players will also be able to "create and nurture their own wildlife nature preserve around the Tree of Life." To us, it sounds like a mixture of Zoo World and Gardens of Time, a two-for-one, there for the older female Facebook crowd.

However, VP of product at Playdom Eric Todd believes it could have a broader appeal: Gardens of Time currently has over 6.4 million monthly active users, and the firm is hoping those folks also hop on board the Animal Kingdom train.

"We wanted to pick a theme that was more universal, and everyone loves animals and nature,” Todd told VentureBeat. “We went to the park and we knew that this was the game we wanted to make.”

“It has iconic images and themes that come from the park,” added Patrick Hsieh, the game's lead producer. “It has educational value with facts about animals and the environment.”

The game will launch in the next few weeks with new content available for Earth Day on April 22.