Bank

"A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it."

― Bob Hope

Overview

The bank in My Free Zoo is where you can purchase or otherwise acquire the premium currency, Diamonds (D), and exchange Diamonds for the in-game currency, Zoo Dollars (ZD). This section will explain how to acquire Diamonds as well as take a realistic look at their necessity in the game.

Many items and actions in My Free Zoo require Diamonds. While it is possible to acquire a great many animals, plants, decorations and other items through trading, there are many instances where trading is not an option; for example, later stages of zoo expansion or hiring employees. It is really only a matter of time until a player hits a Diamond-wall, a situation which can cause a lot of frustration.

Fortunately there are a number of ways to acquire Diamonds, and not all involve spending real money:

Diamonds are sometimes given as rewards for Story-Tasks;
Diamonds are sometimes acquired through boosters;
Diamonds can be acquired through completing Achievements if your account is linked to the Upjers Game Portal;
Diamonds can be acquired for free through Earning Diamonds;
Diamonds can be purchased with real money.

While purchasing Diamonds with real money is the fastest and easiest way to acquire Diamonds, it is simply not an option for all players. Players unable to spend real money are advised to read the section below about Free Diamonds; this is an often overlooked opportunity to gain a significant amount of Diamonds.

Items which cost Diamonds to acquire cannot be sold for Diamonds; you will only receive Zoo Dollars.

Necessary Diamonds

While Diamonds are not strictly necessary to play My Free Zoo, on a practical level they are needed to advance past a certain point.

That said, the majority of items in the game which require Diamonds for purchase can be traded for, provided you have a Transport Station and some patience. You do not need Diamonds to acquire:

Most animals
Most plants
Most decorations
Most shops
Most enclosures or enclosure equipment
Some buildings

However, you do need Diamonds for certain elements as your zoo grows larger, some of which are fairly significant. Some things that can only be acquired with Diamonds include:

Zoo expansions past level 3
Regular hiring of employees
Breeding Station upgrades
All Vendors
Most Terrains
Many Campaign items
Some buildings, including the Big Shopping Mall, Big Restroom House, Big Depot and Big Enclosure House

The Diamond requirement for zoo expansions in particular causes a lot of frustration among free players; offering a ZD alternative is one of the most commonly requested changes in the Features and Proposals section of the forum. Again, free players may want to check out the Free Diamonds section below for some alternative options to using real money.

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Purchasing Diamonds

Purchasing Diamonds with real money is simple and, depending on your payment method, usually takes only a few moments. To get started, click the Bank icon from the top menu bar on the main play screen. This will open the bank window:

^{The Bank Window. Click for larger resolution.}

As you can see in the image above, on the right side you can choose to exchange Diamonds for Zoo Dollars. On the left side, clicking that big green Diamond Shop button will open a new, secure browser window from which you can purchase Diamonds:

^{The 'buy' window. Click for larger resolution.}

The window shown above is pretty self-explanatory; choose your preferred payment method on the left and the quantity of diamonds on the right. Note that additional payment methods are available by clicking the arrow on the lower left of the screen, and custom amounts of Diamonds may be purchased using the Other Amount button on the right.

Once a purchase is complete you'll get a confirmation screen with a Transaction ID number. It is advisable to keep this number until you receive your purchase in the game, as Upjers Support will need it if there are any problems.

If payment was done with an immediate method, the diamonds should show up in the game a few moments later along with a pop-up notification in the game telling you your purchase has arrived. Logging out and logging back in will prompt the purchase to show up immediately if it seems to be taking a while in-game.

If you encounter any difficulties with the order, contact Upjers Support using the link at the bottom of any My Free Zoo screen:

^{Click the Support link at the bottom of the screen if you're having trouble with your purchase.}

Bonus Items

Bonus items are usually available with purchases of 100 or more Diamonds; if you buy 100 Diamonds you get one bonus item, if you buy 200 diamonds you get two bonus items. Bonus items are limited to two credited per purchase; buying 200 Diamonds will get you two bonus items, buying 600 Diamonds will still get you two bonus items. If you want six bonus items, you'll need to make six individual purchase of 100 Diamonds or three individual purchases of 200 Diamonds. Bonus items appear in the game at the same time and in the same manner as purchased Diamonds.

Usually a particular bonus item is offered for around one month before changing. Many of these items, particularly animals, tend to return to the game after several months for sale in the zoo shop, so you'll usually have a chance to acquire it later if you can't manage to buy Diamonds during the bonus offer period.

Transferring Diamonds

While Diamonds cannot be transferred to other players from within the game, it is possible to purchase Diamonds for another player. If a sufficient amount of Diamonds was purchased, the bonus item(s) can also be transferred. Contact Upjers Support for more details about transferring Diamonds. You will need both your own and the other player's user ID, the Transaction ID of the purchase you want to transfer, and the method of payment.

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Story-Tasks, Boosters & Upjers Portal

A surprising amount of Diamonds are given as rewards for completing Story-Tasks, though this is often a frustratingly slow method of collecting the currency. More details about Story-Tasks and their rewards can be found in the Story-Tasks section of the wiki―but be warned it contains spoilers.

Small amounts of Diamonds―generally 2 to 10 at a time―are sometimes received through bronze, silver or gold Boosters. While not a bad thing by any means, these amounts are generally too small―and acquisition too infrequent―to be particularly helpful when trying to scrounge up Diamonds to purchase something in particular.

Linking your account to the Upjers Game Portal will also earn you small amounts of diamonds as you accumulate points by completing Achievements. There are a number of other ways to earn Upjers Points, including playing other Upjers Games, which can be converted to a premium currency of your choice for use in any Upjers Game.

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Free Diamonds

Note that this section is based solely on one player's (the author's) experience with Earning Diamonds.

As mentioned above, Earning Diamonds is a widely overlooked way to get free Diamonds. It does work―this author has acquired several hundred Diamonds this way, without spending a single cent―but it also has some drawbacks.

To get to the special offers, you first need to open the Bank window as discussed above, and click on the big green Diamond Shop button to open the Buy Diamonds window. This time, instead of choosing a payment method and Diamond amount, you'll want to click on one of the other two tabs; Earn Diamonds or Advertisement:

^{Click the Earn Diamonds or Advertisement tabs to earn free Diamonds.}

We'll look at Advertisement first because it's easier.

Advertisement basically involves watching 10 to 30 second commercials. For every 10 videos you watch, you get 1 Diamond. Note that there are two pages from which to view videos, which can be alternated between by clicking the icons in the upper left of the screen:

^{Click these icons to switch between viewing opportunities.}

Both screens count the same towards your total views. The upper SponsorPay screen tends to have videos in English, while the multicolored TV below it tends to have commercials in German.

This is a rather dull but effective method, provided you don't run into problems. Unfortunately problems are not exactly unusual, which usually involve running out of videos:

^{No Diamonds for you!}

Or you may encounter baffling problems:

^{This seems to be some sort of error. Verfügbar indeed!}

That German text says there are currently no videos to view, much like the first error. This happens sometimes; all you can do is try again later.

Getting videos to play can also be tricky at times. I've had the best luck with Chrome, followed by Firefox.

Earn Diamonds

The Earn Diamonds option is both more tedious and more lucrative than Advertisement.

First, to get truly free Diamonds you'll need to make sure you're in the right spot. Go to the Earn Diamonds tab and you'll see that, like Advertisement, there are two icons on the upper left:

^{Make sure you click the big F icon to get to free offers.}

You'll now be presented with a list of 'offers' to choose from, something like this:

^{This is where you want to be for free Diamonds! Click for larger resolution.}

Note the upper menu where you can filter Free offers. If you don't filter, you'll have a few paid offers mixed in.

This is where I have earned hundreds of free Diamonds, and still continue to do so now and then. This method has some pros:

Diamonds are truly free
Earned Diamonds usually show up in-game in just moments
Most offers are pretty quick to complete

Of course, it also has some cons:

You're basically signing up for infinite spam
Some offers are long and tedious
About 10% of the time offers just don't work (you never get the Diamonds despite completing the offer)
You don't get the bonus gifts received with purchases of Diamonds

Some tips to maximize results:

If possible stay logged into the game while completing offers
You must use the same email in offers as is associated with the game in order to be credited Diamonds
If Diamonds aren't credited, check email to see if a confirmation is needed to fully complete an offer

I have tried using spoof email forwarders and alternate email accounts for these offers, but the vast majority were not credited to me unless I used the same email I signed up for the game with, which, unfortunately, is my primary email. Be warned, you will receive staggering amounts of spam at the email you use to complete these offers.

Similarly I have a significant drop in crediting to my account if I complete offers while logged out of the game. I don't know if this is how it's supposed to be, but it's how it is for me. Hopefully some other players with experience acquiring free Diamonds can contribute more to this section and clarify some points.

Offers can vary considerably, from simply signing up on a website to ordering free samples to filling out absurdly long 'surveys' which constantly try to trick you into buying things. With a bit of practice you'll become quite discerning as to which offers are worth the bother.

There is usually a huge volume of offers under Earn Diamonds and new ones are continually added; I have never run out of offers to complete.

Good luck!

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