A beginners' guide to freemium iPhone hit Tap Zoo

In the six short months following Tap Zoo's arrival on the App Store, it's managed to propel itself to the peak of the Top Grossing iPhone chart – surpassing the infamous Smurfs' Village.

Tap Zoo merges elements from various games such as FarmVille and Theme Park, tasking you with creating an award-winning zoo from scratch by filling it with animals, amusements, workers, and decorations.

It'll be a long slog to stardom, but with these tips you'll hopefully get off to a flying start.

So you've loaded up Tap Zoo, plodded through the brief tutorial, and purchased your first animal. You're now probably tempted to spruce up your zoo, add a few paths, buy some decorations, or perhaps dig a lake.

Don't, at least for the time being.

At such an early stage it's beneficial to focus solely on adding more animals to your zoo. After all, they gift both coins and experience (XP) at regular intervals - both of which you'll need in abundance.

Similarly, although support structures such as food stands and gift shops provide bountiful XP upon purchase, they're expensive and provide no money. Ignore them until later.

Trading in the monkey for some money

You won't get far in Tap Zoo unless you have a pocket full of shiny coins. Fortunately - if you know how - there are multiple opportunities to get your mucky hands on some coinage.

For example, you can often earn a quick buck or two by collecting the trash that litters the floor of your zoo at various intervals.

By simply closing Tap Zoo, reopening, and reloading your zoo, you'll be presented with a fresh batch of rubbish to clean - this process can be repeated indefinitely earning yourself 20-30 coins per try.

You won't become a millionaire overnight, but it's a sure fire way of earning some extra cash.

You can also earn coins by leaving a review of Tap Zoo on the App Store. You do this through the game by hitting the icon in the top-right of the screen.

Furthermore, inviting friends to the game via Facebook and email will allow you to visit their zoos and complete small tasks for cash rewards.

When you've filled your zoo with a nice selection of animals and you have a steady flow of incoming coins, you should then focus on expansion. Try to increase the size of your farm at least once - if you want to progress, you'll have to pull in more punters than your initial allocation of land will allow.

The star of the seal show

Like all freemium titles, Tap Zoo has premium currency – stars in this instance.

You can acquire these in bundles via in-app purchase and use them to speed up events such as breeding, or to buy animals that aren't available for coins.

You don't necessarily have to splash your real cash, though, as downloading one of Tap Zoo's recommended apps will reward you with stars. There are numerous free apps to choose from, so you have nothing to lose (except for five minutes of your time) - once you've downloaded and opened the app, you can delete it from your device.

If you aren't planning on spending any real money, it's a wise move to spend the stars you earn through downloading apps to purchase otherwise unattainable animals, as these are often used for cross-breeding – the results wielding more coins and XP than your average animal.

Time to spread your wings and go it alone

When you reach level six you'll unlock the ability to gain achievements for completing certain tasks. These range from building walls to breeding specific sets of animals.

Successfully completing an achievement will net you large amounts of coins and XP – they are definitely worth tackling.

Finally, don't forget to link your zoo to your email address. This will stop you losing all your hard work if you have to switch devices.