Cities: Skylines

 PC
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2115 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,829 out of 2115
  2. Mixed: 202 out of 2115
  3. Negative: 84 out of 2115
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. matsantos
    Dec 25, 2019
    10
    O jogo promete tudo aquilo que o simcity não pode ter: jogabilidade, gráficos e trilha sonora. Esse jogo é indispensável.
  2. MiguelGordiano
    Dec 23, 2019
    10
    Best and most complete simulation and management game I've ever played. Lots of different game mechanics and special attention to detail that makes all the difference. The game has many tools to explore and is not repetitive because there are several ways to make your city work. Plus, it's a little more complicated compared to others, which makes the experience even more challenging andBest and most complete simulation and management game I've ever played. Lots of different game mechanics and special attention to detail that makes all the difference. The game has many tools to explore and is not repetitive because there are several ways to make your city work. Plus, it's a little more complicated compared to others, which makes the experience even more challenging and fun.
    I'm giving a 10 regarding the available mods on Steam.    … Expand
  3. ZetaJiffils
    Dec 21, 2019
    7
    Muy bueno, aún sin dlcs, pero llega un momento en el que el tráfico es un problema...eso le resta puntos.
    Y también con el tiempo llega a aburrir.
  4. Damislav
    Dec 14, 2019
    10
    It's a huge sandbox. And it's GREAT. Graphics are nice , even though stability it's not the best, but that's what you get when you have that big of simulation. It's amazing feeling to micromanage your bus station and subway, decorate your city to your dreams..
  5. Verence
    Dec 8, 2019
    10
    The God/Goddes of City Builder Games.
    Its awesome to create and manage a City that looks full of life. The Game gave the freedom to build huge cities in sandbox Style or you can lost in real micro managing to create the perfect traffic system, education or whatever . A huge modder community supports you with cool mods amazing buildings and many more. But only with official dlc its massive.
  6. alvackzMX
    Nov 25, 2019
    10
    the quintessential city builder,I really enjoyed the hours I spent playing this game, it has a great learning curve, there is always something to try and learn (the game is a bit dependent cpu)
  7. Armywild
    Nov 20, 2019
    9
    Review castellano, Jugado en Gamepass, Pc graficos medios. No es necesario explicar de que se trata dado que es un simulador perfecto para crear tus ciudades, vengo de pasarme mas de 70 hrs construyendo y mejorando ciudades desde sus cimientos y puedo decir que es un simulador muy completo. Corrigieron muchos errores por el Pionera SimCity, pero en esta ocasion se agregaron formas deReview castellano, Jugado en Gamepass, Pc graficos medios. No es necesario explicar de que se trata dado que es un simulador perfecto para crear tus ciudades, vengo de pasarme mas de 70 hrs construyendo y mejorando ciudades desde sus cimientos y puedo decir que es un simulador muy completo. Corrigieron muchos errores por el Pionera SimCity, pero en esta ocasion se agregaron formas de agilizar tanto el trafico como la obtencion de recursos. Moderno y facil de jugar, con buenos tutoriales para lograr llevar tu ciudad a lo mas grande. Recomendado para jovenes interesados en aprender a gestionar recursos y lograr la mejor eficiencia. Y que mejor que su version incluida en gamepass de xbox.… Expand
  8. LAKottke
    Nov 17, 2019
    10
    Even after i got sick of average play, the amount of ways to make THE WORST CITY EVER was awesome, i still play it after months!
  9. dzbnkx
    Nov 13, 2019
    9
    Best city builder of all time. Highly detailed, you have to care about everything in your city.
    However, Paradox wants you to buy 100s of DLCs.
  10. RomanGor
    Nov 7, 2019
    8
    Лучший градостроительный симулятор как по мне. Проще, чем последний сим сити, но в то же время более увлекательный.
  11. death12123
    Nov 2, 2019
    9
    I love city builder games and wanted another SimCity game for so long and wish I found this sooner. It can use more improvements and more in depth content but looking for a simple SimCity game to play pick this one up.
  12. Garbz
    Oct 24, 2019
    10
    It started as a 7, a good game in its own right. After a few DLCs which added very interesting content it became an 8. Then I discovered mods and the Steam workshop. 10/10. If it would lose points now it's only due to the amount of my life this game has consumed making me wonder what I could have been or achieved if I wasn't pretending to be both a mayor and a god in a small city.
  13. MazrimTaim14
    Oct 7, 2019
    9
    Everything Sim City should be.

    Modifications and customizations gives the players option how to tweak their cities. Only drawback I experience is the performance issues when you have a bigger city.

    Traffic management is the way to destress after experiencing a 2-hour traffic jam yourself.
  14. Hermano999
    Sep 23, 2019
    8
    This is really a pinnacle of city sims out there. Highly recommended. If only they fixed bugs instead of relying on modding community...
  15. twinkeywinkey
    Sep 19, 2019
    8
    The game has everything that is missing in the latest Sim City. Fun for hours. I love it!
  16. Oreox4
    Aug 17, 2019
    7
    I like this game. It's good. I feel like it's just not as addicting as others say it is though. I barely ever come back to this. Building up a city is fun, then i just don't touch this game for months. It's not like i think it's bad. Like i said, it's good. I think it's stupid that a 7 is considered mixed. Anyways, good game. But not really worth the price tag for me. There are anI like this game. It's good. I feel like it's just not as addicting as others say it is though. I barely ever come back to this. Building up a city is fun, then i just don't touch this game for months. It's not like i think it's bad. Like i said, it's good. I think it's stupid that a 7 is considered mixed. Anyways, good game. But not really worth the price tag for me. There are an abundance of better games (in my opinion) that are cheaper.… Expand
  17. Ominutsu
    Jun 14, 2019
    8
    A near perfect city simulator, I can't stress enough how much this soars over SimCity 5. From the city planning, to the massive possible city size, there is clearly a god, and its name is Paradox.
  18. kveldby
    May 7, 2019
    8
    игра класс, но оптимизации нет, и аи не очень
  19. NezharMC
    May 3, 2019
    9
    The summit of city building in PC in the 201x. Great map size, offline mode, map editor, mod support, systems and systems and systems. Every OS supported.

    Good graphics and great gameplay. The only caveat may be that many features similar to Simcity are behind paywall, like winter, nightlife or disasters. But the game by itself is already a deep experience.
    A must for fans of city builders.
  20. GarethB
    Apr 10, 2019
    8
    An an excellent city builder with so many options its crazy, once you start down the dark path of planning and building your city the hours will vanish. Supported by a huge amount of mods also!
  21. patrick33
    Apr 1, 2019
    8
    Well I had some performance problems in the late game, but all in all, it´s running fine. As always a good game from Paradox. The graphics are ok but the most important thing is, building up your city is fun!
  22. SirAwesomeness5
    Jan 30, 2019
    10
    My past experience with city builders was pretty much limited to the DS SimCitys. This game is far superior to those in every way. And it has mod support too! 10 out of 10
  23. SGTB
    Jan 4, 2019
    10
    This game is everything that SimCity 5 should have been. In addition to its great user interface, it actually SUPPORTS mods, a change from SimCity 5. You can make any city you want using assets from the Steam Workshop, which is set up really well and is easy to use. The only issue is that when your city gets large 3 and 2 simulation speeds don't actually work anymore, but it is nice to seeThis game is everything that SimCity 5 should have been. In addition to its great user interface, it actually SUPPORTS mods, a change from SimCity 5. You can make any city you want using assets from the Steam Workshop, which is set up really well and is easy to use. The only issue is that when your city gets large 3 and 2 simulation speeds don't actually work anymore, but it is nice to see your city functioning real time. The DLCs are great and every time they add something new that was a feature the community was asking for. All in all, a great game, and I have poured 1600 hours into it and never been disappointed with the variety of things you can do in the game.… Expand
  24. Zodiac_A
    Dec 9, 2018
    3
    Very overpriced, 30FPS on GTX 1070. DLS cost practically as a full game. But good abilities and graphic.
  25. infsai
    Nov 27, 2018
    9
    I love this game! It's helping me to still stay creative. Shame that on my computer it freezes or crashes a lot..
  26. NotBanMePLZ
    Nov 22, 2018
    9
    Лучшая стратегия в своем роде. Лучший городостроитель который вообще существует. Убивает SimCity даже не стреляя. Как же круто дополняет игру даже такая мелочь как переименование улиц, зданий и т.д., с этим можно очень весело побаловаться. Например улица (Фамилия вашего бест френда) или "улица разбитых фонарей". Крч веселая игрушка, всем рекомендую)Лучшая стратегия в своем роде. Лучший городостроитель который вообще существует. Убивает SimCity даже не стреляя. Как же круто дополняет игру даже такая мелочь как переименование улиц, зданий и т.д., с этим можно очень весело побаловаться. Например улица (Фамилия вашего бест френда) или "улица разбитых фонарей". Крч веселая игрушка, всем рекомендую)
  27. noelanz
    Nov 16, 2018
    9
    This is easily the greatest game I've played in a few years! It definitely has a way of wasting your time so efficiently. The workshop on steam really helps immersion.
  28. WilliamReviews
    Oct 28, 2018
    9
    This game is fantastic and is what Simcity (2015) Should have been. Some Examples:
    1. A good map size
    2: Residents have ONE house, they go to ONE job and they come home to that same house

    Minus one point due to DLC
  29. markjohnson7861
    Oct 19, 2018
    7
    Do you want to build a city?
    Yes?
    Then it's the game for you. Do you have more than 50 IQ, a few bucks to spare and free time in the evenings? Great! Sit there, and play this game! Jokes on a side, it's super casual city builder. It's ok, but nothing fancy. I hate when people evaluate games on behalf of workshop and actual work of users, not devs. Devs did good job, but maybe they    Do you want to build a city?
    Yes?
    Then it's the game for you.
    Do you have more than 50 IQ, a few bucks to spare and free time in the evenings?
    Great! Sit there, and play this game!
    Jokes on a side, it's super casual city builder. It's ok, but nothing fancy. I hate when people evaluate games on behalf of workshop and actual work of users, not devs. Devs did good job, but maybe they could do better?    … Expand
  30. exequielborghi
    Sep 9, 2018
    8
    No doubt its the spiritual successor of Sim city 4 and what SimCity 2000 should have been but never was.
    It´s a Good indie game with lots of cheaps dlc that adds excellent new features
    Losing 1 point due to no Multi-Player or other cities interaction where to actively export/ import goods. or cities products specialization Losing another 1 point because you cannot change o direct    No doubt its the spiritual successor of Sim city 4 and what SimCity 2000 should have been but never was.
    It´s a Good indie game with lots of cheaps dlc that adds excellent new features
    Losing 1 point due to no Multi-Player or other cities interaction where to actively export/ import goods. or cities products specialization
    Losing another 1 point because you cannot change o direct architecture structures in the main gameplay    … Expand
  31. jnorth5834
    Sep 3, 2018
    7
    This is one of those games that you can spend hours designing and maintaining a society in your image, but the game itself is what seems to limit your imagination. Once you get so far, unlock everything, you'll begin to realize that there's no chance of failing, which unfortunately kills the challenge of the game altogether.
    I feel that this game starts strong, but becomes disposable as    This is one of those games that you can spend hours designing and maintaining a society in your image, but the game itself is what seems to limit your imagination. Once you get so far, unlock everything, you'll begin to realize that there's no chance of failing, which unfortunately kills the challenge of the game altogether.
    I feel that this game starts strong, but becomes disposable as the societies that you can effortlessly allow to collapse without any drawbacks. This game seems to be inconsistent due to this flaw.    … Expand
  32. hiltong55
    Jul 26, 2018
    8
    Let me start by saying that this is my first city builder so I am coming at this with a fresh perspective and I am not comparing this to something like sim city because I have never played any of them. My experience in this builder style genre is exclusive with the roller coaster tycoon a few years ago.

    Let start with the positives. I love how even though this is a sandbox style game    Let me start by saying that this is my first city builder so I am coming at this with a fresh perspective and I am not comparing this to something like sim city because I have never played any of them. My experience in this builder style genre is exclusive with the roller coaster tycoon a few years ago.

    Let start with the positives. I love how even though this is a sandbox style game that really does not need any sort of progression system, there is one anyway. That is very important for players like me because I am fairly goal-oriented when I play games. Every time you get to a certain amount of citizens you are rewarded with new gameplay elements like roads, building, transportation systems and technology advancements (things like hydro and nuke energy). Cities is realistic in that if you put certain buildings next to each other, you could create issues with real-life problems such as pollution and noise. Also, as you advance through the game you are able to build more high density based buildings such as office buildings, housing, and commercial based businesses. Things like Zoning, traffic management, pollution control (especially in waterways), water and electrical availability are all very important and could cause many issues if not handled carefully. Of course like any good management game you can easily lose hours of your life just building and planning with total relaxation. The music is also very complementary to the relaxing nature of the game.

    Cities definitely has its faults but nothing too egregious. Maybe I am old fashion but I would have liked to see the developers be a bit more friendly in the way they present their game to new players. There is no tutorial system and while I don't see a need to hold anyone had, they could at least give us some tips on how to do the basics. I guess that is YouTubes job now. Also, the game is really bad at telling you what I wrong if you are making a mistake. For example, I was literally killing hundreds of my citizens due to dirty water. I could not figure out what was wrong for the longest time and it turns out I had a water tower too close to a ground pollution area. In reality, your stooges that work for the city would be able to tell you that. Kinda hard to see with all these buildings in the way. Also, the game seems to be lacking in detail. A lot of the buildings that are built have the same company name. How many box building companies do you really need?

    All in all, this really is a great city builder. I just wish they put a little more into the base game rather than make you pay $15 for expansions. I would have been willing to pay more for the base game if more was in it but I guess that is the way games are made these days. 8/10 Great. If you like this genre you need to give Cities a try.    … Expand
  33. AlexBlasio
    Jul 13, 2018
    10
    I love this game, I love all the possibilities which are presented to the players, I think it's an excellent game which has a lot to give, I play it every day and I love all the possibilities. The game is very well elaborated I love it.
  34. susej79
    May 7, 2018
    6
    This is a really honest review. I think Cities:Skllines's biggest problem is that it is too addictive. 2~3 hours just fly away if I play the game. The degree of addictiveness was so immense so I had to uninstall and delete the game. This game is suitable for really old people who has nothing but only plenty of time. Conclusion: Great game for killing time. Harzadous game for ordinary people.
  35. DarkBee
    Apr 20, 2018
    10
    Recently, the genre of urban simulators has always been unlucky. Servers SimCity cool players at the time of its release. The recent Cities XXL was a trivial hoax. Studio Colossal Order, responsible for the development of the recently released Cities: Skylines, until now was known only for a series of transport simulators Cities in Motion. Let's be honest: from the new game we did notRecently, the genre of urban simulators has always been unlucky. Servers SimCity cool players at the time of its release. The recent Cities XXL was a trivial hoax. Studio Colossal Order, responsible for the development of the recently released Cities: Skylines, until now was known only for a series of transport simulators Cities in Motion. Let's be honest: from the new game we did not expect anything supernatural. But often good things appear when you do not expect them at all. This is what happened in the case of Cities: Skylines. This game resembles a kind of hodgepodge, collected from the successful ideas of the genre. Unlike the last SimCity, there are no "micro-polis" here, so it's not necessary to suffer from compact building. Initially, at your disposal comes a small square of land with the minimum amount of necessary resources, but as the city grows its borders can be significantly expanded. Each cell has its own characteristics: the availability of different types of resources, a source of water, acceptable for settlement of the landscape. It is also important to have external relations that allow you to export goods and attract tourists to your city. Coping with an insanely overgrown metropolis will not be easy: it's even surprising how much the developers from the Colossal Order were confused with all sorts of subtleties. Instead of building specific buildings in Cities: Skylines, a zoning system is applied: you can take entire plots of land for living quarters, commercial or industrial complexes. This approach is well known to all the fans of SimCity and, in our opinion, is very justified. When 10-15 thousand people live in your city, the last thing you have enough time for is to build each new apartment house in the area on your own. However, if you want, you can plant trees one by one or demolish dilapidated buildings. With each new level in the game a lot of new functionality opens up. You hardly have enough money for all the new "chips". In addition, to manage them requires a lot of attention. For example, when placing wind farms it is necessary to take into account in what area the wind blows with maximum force. The water pipeline is designed in such a way that the water pump station is upstream, and the discharge pipe is at the bottom. And, of course, it is necessary to protect the source of water from pollution by nearby factories and plants. What can we say about the transport system: from the developer of Cities in Motion, the catch is not worth waiting here. Also you can independently outline the boundaries of the city districts. But the craziest thing in the plan is the ability to rename every building, every inhabitant and every car. You can also find out full information about the unit: where it goes, where it lives and what place it occupies among all social strata. However, to monitor the mood of each individual resident is simply impossible - the game is too big.… Expand
  36. ollyhinge11
    Apr 5, 2018
    9
    Absolutely superb game, I've racked up nearly 2000 hours on this. One criticism I do have is the traffic. So stubborn and will only ever use one lane, which without mods causes endless traffic problems. Thankfully, due to the 100% support and encouragement of mods by the devs, this can easily be changed. Thank you for such a wonderful game.
  37. denwer
    Apr 3, 2018
    6
    I agree with captainkane and Junambo, at first games looks great, especially in comparison with last Sim City from EA. This joy lasts about 6-10 hours, and then you realize, that game lacks variety and challenges(at least interesting), like no pandemics, fires or organized crime. And also I agree that when you get large city (30 000 - 40 000 ), you understand that the most of your time youI agree with captainkane and Junambo, at first games looks great, especially in comparison with last Sim City from EA. This joy lasts about 6-10 hours, and then you realize, that game lacks variety and challenges(at least interesting), like no pandemics, fires or organized crime. And also I agree that when you get large city (30 000 - 40 000 ), you understand that the most of your time you spent by planning and building roads and handle the traffic.

    Sure it is a good game, but it lacks the depth like SimCity 4 and variety.
    Also, I didn't like the gameplay idea that you could not upgrade any buildings(except roads and pipes), you should demolish the old building(fire department or police) and build the new one when a city grows.    … Expand
  38. jdowling
    Mar 1, 2018
    10
    This is what a city builder should be. After EA's... issues... This game stepped up to the plate and hit a home run.
  39. Nazar228
    Feb 26, 2018
    8
    The best game in the genre of urban planning. Very interesting and a lot of fun. I recommend!
  40. Review123
    Feb 18, 2018
    10
    OH YEAH, my 2 review at cities skylines, the result was 7, but now is 10. due to lags & crashs, but they are fixed.
  41. TheCornflex
    Feb 1, 2018
    9
    One of the best PC-Games ever. There is not a different City-Building-Game that can touch this one. The Mod-Support brings it to a whole other level.
  42. TantFuriosa
    Jan 6, 2018
    8
    It's like stepping into a time machine. You start the game Friday afternoon and suddently it's 2 am on Monday and you haven't eaten or fed your cat in two days.
  43. ajyto
    Nov 14, 2017
    10
    A great successor from Simcity 4. With mods and everything in between. 3D gaming never looks so good. And it makes sense of accomplishment too! Also buy Mass Transit.
  44. pongkrit03
    Nov 5, 2017
    10
    This game sucks my life. Period. I am a veteran of city builder genre and I have to say that Cities Skyline is the BEST CITY BUILDER game I've ever played. What makes it so standout is the TRAFFIC SYSTEM which is REAL. Unlike most other games in this genre that calculate traffic problem by statistic, this game use real driving vehicles. Building road and transportation have never beenThis game sucks my life. Period. I am a veteran of city builder genre and I have to say that Cities Skyline is the BEST CITY BUILDER game I've ever played. What makes it so standout is the TRAFFIC SYSTEM which is REAL. Unlike most other games in this genre that calculate traffic problem by statistic, this game use real driving vehicles. Building road and transportation have never been this fun and challenging before. One U turn or wrong road placement can create a massive problem, not only because people will be late at work but all utility services are also delivered by vehicles. No matter how many fire station, garbage collector, police, clinic .... etc you have built, if the traffic is dead, these vehicles will not get to your people, thus create waves of a mess. ; In other games, as long as you have big money in your pocket, you can solve everything. This game is required more brain than that. The more you expand your population, more traffic problem will come.

    Apart from fantastic traffic system, this game also has everything you would normally want in Cities Building genre. Graphic is good depending on your PC spec. Size of the map is very huge, unless you are very devoted city builder (and good enough to deal with colossal population), you have more than enough. This game support mods.

    Actually, I would like the game to have more depth in other area too, not just traffic, for example, economy manipulation. I also feel like the game needs more content at mid-late game. However, since the PRICE is SO CHEAP. Only 30 USD at start, and now mostly you could buy it less than 20 USD. I understand that I cannot compare this game with AAA game attitude. You have gain more than what you have spent. That is why I give it a 10/10 which is very hard for someone like me to give. (I bought this game when steam has good discount, I paid approximately 7-8 usd, I mean seriously, super worthy game compared with the amount I paid for. I would not mind at all if I have to pay 30, it is still cheap for what you get )

    In sum, If you like this genre, buy it !! you will have no regret.

    PS. I didn't buy any DLC yet because they are expensive if compared with base game. This review is solely for vanilla    … Expand
  45. Ilya2017
    Aug 31, 2017
    9
    Хорошая игра, лучший градостроительный симулятор. Конечно не без багов. Играю со всем комплектом дополнений.
  46. crishy
    Aug 19, 2017
    9
    By far the best city builder of this generation and since SimCity 4.

    Great graphics, fully 3d engine, and runs smoothly and with few glitches. The traffic/public transport simulation is one of the most addicting aspects of the game, it has a lot of depth and it is addicting spending time building and altering transit lines and building roads (that can be easily curved or    By far the best city builder of this generation and since SimCity 4.

    Great graphics, fully 3d engine, and runs smoothly and with few glitches. The traffic/public transport simulation is one of the most addicting aspects of the game, it has a lot of depth and it is addicting spending time building and altering transit lines and building roads (that can be easily curved or elevated/tunneled) in order to increase traffic flow.

    The variety of included buildings is decent, and there is a great variety of mods and assets - that are continuously created and updated - that drastically increase gameplay options and provide a much more personalized and enjoyable gaming experience. It is also remarkably easy to install and update them - just a matter of subscribing to them once online. No need to manually download and unpack files. Definitively a key core component of the game.

    Unfortunately I cannot give the game a perfect score because it suffers from a big, big drawback: size limitations. Yes, the allowed build-able area is much larger than SC2013, but that is really not saying much. The default 9 obtainable tiles add up to only 36 km squares, only a little more than two large SC4 (which allows for almost unlimited number of tiles at the cost of a shallower game simulation) tiles side by side.

    Now, there are mods that increase the maximum allowed number of obtainable tiles from 9 to 25 or even all 81 tiles, but then chances are (especially with the latter) that you will run into hard-coded limitations, such as 65k agents, a one million population limit, and most notably, around 32k road segments and nodes, that will halt to a stop any further growth in your city, very early on, unless you are playing in maps with lots of water and/or mountains. These limits have been imposed by the developers to maintain smooth performance across a wide range of PC configurations, with, sadly, no option for people with PCs that can handle the load to increase said limits. Because of the difficulty (or impossibility) in doing so, no mods have been released dealing with these limits, other than one increasing the number of trees. So caveat emptor.

    Also, lack of medium residential density and farming zoning - you must use ordinances to ban growth of skyscrapers or allow farms in industrial zones, tedious at best, Farming is also affected by the fact that zoning is limited to four squares deep (making them look totally out of scale, more than other things in-game other than the airports, which, for that matter, do almost nothing) beyond a road and best done in fertile areas only - basically, needlessly making it a much more complicated affair than in SC4, even with mods, as with these one is forced to manually plop/paint and decorate fields to visually simulate said farms.

    Many other minor complaints in vanilla (i.e. deathwaves, must build roadside first, etc.) that are easily fixable with mods.

    For the price, 30$ at launch, you cannot beat it though. It is a great bargain. As for the DLCs, I believe all of them are worth as well, except the disasters pack, which I do not own and cannot comment as I never cared for them in any city simulator game. But you do not require them to have an enjoyable experience, or to use user created content, for that matter (other than ones created specifically for content introduced in these DLCs).    … Expand
  47. captainkane
    Jun 19, 2017
    5
    Cities: Skylines is barely a decent game. Comparatively EA’s 2013 Sim City was a disaster, and that’s one reason Cities has done so well. However, I don’t think it will replace Sim City 4 Deluxe on my shelf anytime soon. Cities has a solid foundation, but its limitations are glaring. Without mod support and DLC, Cities is an average experience with no innovation.

    Cities looks fantastic    Cities: Skylines is barely a decent game. Comparatively EA’s 2013 Sim City was a disaster, and that’s one reason Cities has done so well. However, I don’t think it will replace Sim City 4 Deluxe on my shelf anytime soon. Cities has a solid foundation, but its limitations are glaring. Without mod support and DLC, Cities is an average experience with no innovation.

    Cities looks fantastic and runs smoothly. While zoomed in, I see bustling sidewalks and speedy cars zipping around my tidy neighborhoods. There’s enough detail to feel immersive, but not so much as to overwhelm older (or weaker) hardware. Load times can be a bit long tho. At first, city building is not all that different from Sim City. Players need to connect to an external highway, build roads, run utilities, designate zones, and watch as their cities come to life. Once populations reach certain points, players get access to more buildings and services. Each citizen has a name, address, education level, age etc. Players can select an icon above a citizen or car to automatically follow them around.

    Unfortunately, once towns hit 30,000 or so citizens, Cities’ shortcomings become apparent. Foremost, Cities lacks variety. All buildings look similar. Players can’t build space centers or towering skyscrapers. No army bases or national parks. No private schools or hockey rinks. Towns look generic. Players can’t micromanage stats either. Socioeconomic policies are rudimentary and have negligible impact. Tax revenues are too generous. City building merely entails constructing some roads and zoning for residential and business. That’s about it. What a startling lack of innovation. Cities is so featureless that players debate its merits over Sim City 4, a game which launched 12 years earlier.

    Town services are horrid. Landfills pile up insanely quick. There’s no sewage processing, so all sewage is pumped directly into waterways that become polluted within a few hours of play. Creative players will find ways around this. I’ve used in game assets to create my own sewage processing facility (no mods), but doing that ate up massive swaths of valuable real estate and tax revenues. Power stations are anemic. At early levels, the better stations are heavy polluters and resource hungry. And even little towns will need multiple stations or acres of wind turbines. Players will need to build dozens of cemeteries, police/fire stations, schools to service relatively small footprints. Players can’t connect multiple towns together. That was a fan favorite feature in Sim City. So each town must be self-sufficient. The game automatically exports/imports goods to and from imaginary neighboring towns. Players can’t arrange trade agreements. Cities tries to offset this limitation by providing players a larger sandbox. But it’s just not the same as linking a mining town to a farming community or a suburb to a technology hub.

    As towns grow larger, Cities devolves into a traffic manager simulation. Unexperienced players will likely rage over this. The Cities’ AI is laughably stupid. Vehicles always travel the shortest route regardless of obstructions or traffic. By default, they will not take detours or travel alternate routes. I’ve seen dozens of big rigs pile up on a dirt road but ignore a 6 lane highway one red light away because the route was 1 or 2 miles longer. Bus stops can have a dozen or more buses piled up and blocking traffic for 10 blocks. Train stations, docks, and airports will be flooded with unbearable congestion. The worst part about traffic is how early it wrecks towns. New players will need to commit hours of trial and error to fix traffic problems in even the smallest, most basic towns. Not managing traffic will shut towns down completely. Businesses won’t receive deliveries. Power plants won’t receive fuel.

    Traffic can be managed, but not effectively. I’ve built towns with 300,000+ citizens and spent half my time rerouting roads. The process resulted in the destruction of meticulously zoned sections. Without mods, traffic is helplessly broken even with the latest DLC.

    Players can’t send tornadoes ripping the suburbs nor can they summon earthquakes. That requires DLC. Want to see your town at night? DLC. Like snow? DLC. Cities is a barebones package without DLC. Unfortunately, the DLC’s have their own shortcomings. The other deficits—and there are plenty—require mods to fix. Thankfully, the mod community for Cities is robust, and many of its shortcomings are addressed by dedicated fans at no charge. Without those, I wouldn’t be playing Cities at all. Thanks to its fans, Cities can be fun.

    Cities: Traffic Manager Simulator should only be purchased on sale. It’s an incomplete package that requires DLC, mods, and tweaking to make it a decent experience. Sim City 4 Deluxe might be showing its age, but it’s considered the gold standard by many gamers for good reason.    … Expand
  48. MakeyBx
    May 22, 2017
    9
    Rewrite...
    in march 2015, I thought - Simcity 2013 better than CS:S.
    Now: With mods - 9/10.
    UI - 6/10; Graphic - 8/10; Steam Workshop - 10/10; Functionality - 10/10;
  49. Arod_
    May 21, 2017
    5
    This game contains very little possibilities to adjust and tune up anything at all.
    In Sim City 3000 over 25 years ago, you have much more options to make impact in game.
    There is very little or nothing fine tune in game and most of blocks seems to just live "their own life" without any players interaction. After 4-5 maps this game became very repetitive and very boring. There is just    This game contains very little possibilities to adjust and tune up anything at all.
    In Sim City 3000 over 25 years ago, you have much more options to make impact in game.
    There is very little or nothing fine tune in game and most of blocks seems to just live "their own life" without any players interaction.
    After 4-5 maps this game became very repetitive and very boring. There is just not enough content in this "basic version" of game.
    Probably idea was to sell more of content in those DLC / expansion set.    … Expand
  50. leimingdun0
    Mar 5, 2017
    10
    So far the best city building game of all. There are millions of assets, props, mods in the workshop will turn this game to another whole level, it gives the game infinite possibilities. Just google some designer player and watch their finished cites, those will blow your mind.
  51. Grza
    Mar 2, 2017
    8
    I like this game and I think it is much better than others with same kind, but I still miss that "joy" feeling from Simcity. Maybe adding some fun features (no dissasters please) would do right work for me.
  52. rrafemi
    Feb 17, 2017
    10
    Sencillamente fabuloso. Da casi libertad total para crear una ciudad. El añadido de mods le da mucha mas variedad y además puedes crearte tus propios espacios.

    Los menús son fáciles de entender, el control es muy cómodo y los gráficos son muy realistas para este tipo de juegos. 100% recomendable.
  53. atisfix
    Oct 6, 2016
    9
    Cities: Skylines is a nice city builder game. I quiet enjoyed playing it however for the first time it was really difficult to start with it. It is different from other city builder like SimCity but graphics and controls are really easy to use. Graphics are very nice and neat as well! Good game!
  54. azgoodaz
    Aug 16, 2016
    10
    Cities: Skylines (I have the Steam version) is what SimCity should have been, but EA failed. So an Indie Team called "Colossal Order" took the City Builder genre in their hands and made it happen. Cities: Skylines has everything from sandboxes, custom made buildings/cars, and more. Best of all it's moddable for those who like that kind of thing, you can have mods replace a certain vehicle,Cities: Skylines (I have the Steam version) is what SimCity should have been, but EA failed. So an Indie Team called "Colossal Order" took the City Builder genre in their hands and made it happen. Cities: Skylines has everything from sandboxes, custom made buildings/cars, and more. Best of all it's moddable for those who like that kind of thing, you can have mods replace a certain vehicle, building or even plant. The mods go in-depth and make Cities: Skylines expand into a game that you can put countless hours into. As a plus side, you can sync your game saves to "Steam Cloud" (if you are using Steam) so you can have them on the go if you have different computers. From one minute you could be the cleanest city in the game, but in minutes you can have the dirtiest city in the world, have poop take over, flood everything and get people sick.

    This is one of the best City Building games ever made, and you can spend countless hours building your own city, your own way. It's like playing with LEGO's but now, you are your own creator in building your own city. I think the best thing I learned about this game is that this game was made by 10(ish) people. Colossal Order proves that you don't need 40 people working on the game, it might get the job done faster, but the game will be missing many features due to budget problems.    … Expand
  55. LimitedEdition
    Jul 26, 2016
    10
    [german/deutsch]

    Cities:Skylines ist ein Aufbausimulations-Strategiespiel und bietet vor allem sehr viel Abwechslung beim Bauen, eine schöne optische Aufmachung und ein allgemein positive Spielerfahrung.
  56. RIchieh007
    Jul 19, 2016
    10
    Amazing graphics, Good gameplay. No bad points to be made for this amazing city builder. Huge maps, with lots to build and things to consider hen building and designing cities.
  57. agurczuk
    Jun 21, 2016
    9
    A simcity we always wanted.

    This game crept on me unexpectedly. I wasn't aware it's coming out, haven't heard anything before it released and was really positively surprised when it came out. This game is good. It really is. It's a city builder that just makes sense. The graphics are amazing. The sound, the ambience - everything is as you would like it to be. Even more they've added    A simcity we always wanted.

    This game crept on me unexpectedly. I wasn't aware it's coming out, haven't heard anything before it released and was really positively surprised when it came out.

    This game is good. It really is. It's a city builder that just makes sense. The graphics are amazing. The sound, the ambience - everything is as you would like it to be. Even more they've added day and night cycle for free.

    It's really enjoyable to build a city here. You get a wide array of tool that lets build the city in the way you want to. You will need to keep an eye on traffic and population happiness. Not really much more to say. At this point probably the best sim city like game out there.    … Expand
  58. smilzoboboz
    Jun 9, 2016
    10
    Definitely the best city builder/manager ever made until now.

    Things you "may" not like may be the relaxing recurring background soundtrack and the kinda-diorama style, don't get me wrong, I like both but I think they are the only things that someone may not like about this game, because everything else is pure awesomeness. One of the greatest achievements this game earned is that    Definitely the best city builder/manager ever made until now.

    Things you "may" not like may be the relaxing recurring background soundtrack and the kinda-diorama style, don't get me wrong, I like both but I think they are the only things that someone may not like about this game, because everything else is pure awesomeness.

    One of the greatest achievements this game earned is that you can both play this game as a casual: building roads, services and enjoying your city growing, and as micromanagement maniac: setting district policies, modifying budgets, fine-tuning assets and many, many other things. Heck you can even watch the life of your citizens from when they move into your city till they die (possibly old, if you correctly managed pollution and health-care).

    If I'd like to point out a flaw on this game I may say that performance is not that great (at least on linux) and that anti-aliasing is really bad (barely works), but it doesn't hurt that much I guess.

    So, well, get this game if you ever thought you may enjoy creating or managing a city (or actually even a village or idk, almost everything with buildings and roads on it) or just get it anyway since it's worth the money it costs.
    Just one warning: don't look at this title for SimCity-like challenge. This game is far more about fine-tuning, cleaning and beautifying your city than struggling to keep it alive, facing cataclysms and such, and sorry if I repeat myself, Cities Skylines does it extremely well, best city manager so far by a good margin.    … Expand
  59. baris697
    May 5, 2016
    9
    The best current city-build strategy. It is not hard game like some other titles from the same category, it si more like sandbox and in fact, it is harder to do something bad. Game has quality mechanisms, comfortable graphics design, nice soundtrack and good UI. My only problems has been with trainz, where is possible to create some deadlock situation. Summary great title for a nice price.
  60. Collintjuh22
    Mar 27, 2016
    10
    Alles wat SimCity niet heeft heeft deze game weer wel leuke game om te spelen werkt perfect in begin wennen maar blijft een top game SimCity is niks meer waard
  61. chronoT
    Mar 20, 2016
    9
    I was a huge fan of SimCity 4 and have been searching for a modern city builder that could satisfy my simulation needs for quite some time. I am thrilled that I discovered this game after being let down by Cities XL, and extremely let down by the new SimCity. Cities Skylines is a fun, detailed, and somewhat realistic city builder that brings back many good qualities of past games and addsI was a huge fan of SimCity 4 and have been searching for a modern city builder that could satisfy my simulation needs for quite some time. I am thrilled that I discovered this game after being let down by Cities XL, and extremely let down by the new SimCity. Cities Skylines is a fun, detailed, and somewhat realistic city builder that brings back many good qualities of past games and adds many new features. You can zone industrial and commercial areas to make certain goods to meet trading demands and use natural resources. There are many different types of transportation and flow very well with the city when properly implemented. You can make very large cities with populations in the hundreds of thousands, and the graphics overall are very neat to look at, especially in cinematic view. A few things I would have like to see different but aren't major flaws include not much interaction with citizens/automobiles on the road, the time settings aren't different enough, and building can go by rather slow depending on the status of your city. Overall though this is a must play if you enjoy city simulation games, I have spent many hours on my city, and plan to continue with all the amazing mods and add-ons that are available.… Expand
  62. 123456
    Mar 10, 2016
    9
    Fantastic game.

    One of my favourite things to do is fix up my traffic problems. Sorting out roads and organising tube lines - I could lose hours and hours turning red lines to green. Mod support has been essential to the game's longevity, with some great designers creating fantastic mods. My only criticism would be the end game. In Sim City you had a point to each (tiny) city,    Fantastic game.

    One of my favourite things to do is fix up my traffic problems. Sorting out roads and organising tube lines - I could lose hours and hours turning red lines to green.

    Mod support has been essential to the game's longevity, with some great designers creating fantastic mods.

    My only criticism would be the end game. In Sim City you had a point to each (tiny) city, which you would eventually link together and support the building of a wonder.

    With C:S however you just expand your population. There are 5 or 6 "wonders" to build with various effects, but these will only add to the successful city you had to build to obtain them. So you expand until demand dries up - around 200k population for me - and give up.

    Getting to this endpoint however is a fantastic trip.    … Expand
  63. philip3242
    Feb 23, 2016
    8
    Very good game, the reason i'm giving it points off is that it doesn't have an incredible amount of replayability. The modding support, map editor, and the vast amount of options should keep you decently busy for a while though.
  64. Teamdark6
    Feb 18, 2016
    10
    Downright the best game I have ever owned. Brilliant graphics, superb simulations (w/ help of mods) and unlimited possibilities. 10/10 Would recommend.
  65. Carewolf
    Jan 10, 2016
    7
    It is a fine city building game, and a superb successor of SimCity games of old, but maybe I have become too used to goal oriented or compaign based city building games. I really missed having to deal with real emergencies or a changing world. The worst that happens is if you mess up something yourself by poisoning your citizens by pumping poluted water, or flooding parts of city with aIt is a fine city building game, and a superb successor of SimCity games of old, but maybe I have become too used to goal oriented or compaign based city building games. I really missed having to deal with real emergencies or a changing world. The worst that happens is if you mess up something yourself by poisoning your citizens by pumping poluted water, or flooding parts of city with a misplaces damn. And the single progression there is of unlocking based on city size, is a progression you have to go through every time you start a new city, which just feels like such a let down after having had access to all those options in your last game.

    Still a good game though.    … Expand
  66. ScubaDude
    Jan 8, 2016
    6
    I assume that you have read other reviews, played the game, or watched videos of the game, so I won't get into what the game is or how to play it.

    As a fan of Sim City, SC 2000 and SC 3000 I am very impressed with CS' take on the genre. It's the game Sim City wanted to be but couldn't, due to the limits of the technology of the time. It gets an A+ for bringing the genre into the 21st    I assume that you have read other reviews, played the game, or watched videos of the game, so I won't get into what the game is or how to play it.

    As a fan of Sim City, SC 2000 and SC 3000 I am very impressed with CS' take on the genre. It's the game Sim City wanted to be but couldn't, due to the limits of the technology of the time. It gets an A+ for bringing the genre into the 21st century and for designing the game with mods in mind. Colossal Order also seems to be spending a lot of effort responding to players' issues and working to improve the game.

    Now for the cons.

    After playing for months, starting over at least a dozen times, and reading countless articles and watching videos detailing traffic strategy, I still have lots of traffic jams. I have highways branching into big roads then medium roads then small roads; I've analyzed where my Cims are coming from and where they're going to; I've re-zoned and de-zoned and moved buildings; I've added, deleted, re-routed, upgraded and downgraded roads; I've added buses, subways, trains, taxis, walking paths, bike lanes and airports, just to see my traffic problems move from one area of the city to another. I know that it shouldn't be easy but I've paid my dues and should be a traffic expert at this point. Oddly, I can have miles of traffic jams, hundreds of people standing for hours at bus stops, and a "happiness" rating of 92-95%.

    It takes time to empty landfills and graveyards (do they empty graveyards in real life? I'm pretty sure grandma is still in the same place we buried her thirty years ago.) In my current city, at about 120,000 Cims, I had to run an elevated passenger train from the north to the rail line on the south. I paused the game, as I was going to be demolishing and moving lots of roads and buildings and it would upset my Cims. After finishing, I started to run the train tracks. I discovered I couldn't run the tracks over my graveyard (I didn't try raising the tracks more, but it's too late now in any case). I had to un-pause the game to let the graveyard empty (or I could have demolished another north-south corridor and had a bigger mess to clean up). My Cims became very unhappy, crime and fire soared due to areas being cut off from services, and my population and tax revenue dropped.

    My next con is also related to the same train track addition. On the roads that had to be demolished were two metro stations, so they had to be moved. I didn't discover for ten game-years that the subway tracks and routes didn't move with them; I spent ten years with a non-functioning subway system. I also had to re-do a dozen bus routes, as they were designed to bring people from neighborhoods to metro stations. A simple north-south train line took me two weeks (real life weeks) to complete. There were tons of little problems to deal with after I thought the job was done. It was all work and no play, and at the end I felt like I'd been mugged by Mike Tyson. I know it's probably not feasible without re-writing the game from scratch, but the mayor shouldn't be doing the same tasks at 100,000 Cims as he was doing at 1000. There should be a way to delegate tasks to the AI as a city grows. If the game play could transition from building roads and laying water pipes in small towns to handling issues of economics and politics in big cities, THAT would be awesome.

    My final con is the dreaded "DEATH WAVE" (I'm going to add the dreaded "NOT ENOUGH WORKERS" wave in with this). It's one issue I find totally inexcusable. It should never have made it past beta testing. After fighting the game for two weeks on my train track addition, my first death wave hit. My city went from 120,000 cims to 80,000. ONE THIRD of my population died. I have tons of hospitals, a clean water supply and nobody lives on polluted land. Then it passed... for a while. Since the initial wave I've been getting mini-death waves every year for the last TWENTY-FIVE game-years. I've been going from death wave to death wave to death wave. I've had no demand for any new zoned areas and haven't grown my city at all. All I'm doing is building crematoriums during waves to handle the bodies, turning them off after the wave to save money in my budget, just to have to turn them all on again to handle the next wave. That is ALL I've been doing for the last (have I mentioned it before?) TWENTY-FIVE YEARS! I'm so peaceful I make Gandhi look like Attila the Hun, but I'm ready to punch my monitor, set my PC on fire, and drop-kick my dog just for good measure.

    Would I recommend this game to a friend? As much as I'd like to say "yes", I can't. Hopefully, Colossal Order will fix the issues keeping this game from being totally awesome, but the game as it is today (01/08/2016) is more headache than fun. I'll probably continue playing, but now it's personal... I refuse to let the game beat me and I'm going to fill a map from border to border if it kills me (but I promise not to kick my dog).    … Expand
  67. RedWulfr
    Dec 27, 2015
    10
    Waiting more then 10 years for a functionally moddable citybuilder makes you kinda think its impossible and give up. But then comes the day when you think youre about to fall of you chair, and then realize you never need to leave it again. Because Skylines has it all. Sure, it has a few setbacks like the railways and the messy roundabouts etc. but nothing that in a long shot makes the gameWaiting more then 10 years for a functionally moddable citybuilder makes you kinda think its impossible and give up. But then comes the day when you think youre about to fall of you chair, and then realize you never need to leave it again. Because Skylines has it all. Sure, it has a few setbacks like the railways and the messy roundabouts etc. but nothing that in a long shot makes the game go bad. Hello citybuilder, welcome back, you have been away for so long!… Expand
  68. TimW001
    Dec 24, 2015
    7
    A very fun game which is the city builder you want it be. It will challenge you with traffic and waste management, to design smooth city layouts. My only complaints would be that after a time it gets a little slow, it certainly has a peek where after that point you are accomplished and have no motivation to keep managing this city... So then you start all over again!
    If a person is    A very fun game which is the city builder you want it be. It will challenge you with traffic and waste management, to design smooth city layouts. My only complaints would be that after a time it gets a little slow, it certainly has a peek where after that point you are accomplished and have no motivation to keep managing this city... So then you start all over again!
    If a person is seeking a city simulator this one is the best.    … Expand
  69. Trainzfan333
    Dec 18, 2015
    10
    Absolutely amazing! I can't wait for this game to release on Xbox One!

    Who knows, maybe this can be a new IP for PC and Xbox One!!!! PC gaming has such good potential on Xbox One.
  70. krebal
    Nov 21, 2015
    9
    IT`S THE BEST CITY BUILDER SIM OF ALL TIME i think. Mod-ability, Cities up to 1,000,000+ , Great Devs, Great Community, My Favorite Game. 200+ hours OF FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  71. ValetinGabaev
    Oct 23, 2015
    0
    Game is unplayable !!!
    The font is so small that it is impossible to use a larger TV screen. That 18 months has passed and this insane irregularity has not been dealt with by the dev is outrageous.
  72. vladhp
    Oct 8, 2015
    10
    Very fun game, i like it. Sim City made a lot of mistakes, and Cities Skylines tried to avoid them. Good job Cities Skylines.
    The After Dark DLC is awesome.
  73. Luizzrz
    Oct 4, 2015
    6
    Alright, listen up:

    I've created like 6 cities so far, all of them are now completely screwed, most of them have no power or water, some are flooded and others are complete fail.

    I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PLAY THIS GAME, IT DOESN'T HAS A TUTORIAL, I CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO PLAY IT.

    halp
  74. redrik
    Sep 28, 2015
    5
    Cities Skylines is a traffic simulator dressed up like a city builder with basic budget.
    The new dlc " CS AfterDark" is a nonsense, the industry works day and night, the children go to school the day and night, ect ect ^^
  75. Jrud05
    Sep 15, 2015
    7
    Overall I would recommend this game to others, however I feel like the game is limited in a lot of aspects.

    I hate to compare the game to SimCity at all because overall SimCity was just not very good but there are a few things that SimCity got right such as expanding onto a building, for example, adding more garages to an already existing fire department. I also love all of the    Overall I would recommend this game to others, however I feel like the game is limited in a lot of aspects.

    I hate to compare the game to SimCity at all because overall SimCity was just not very good but there are a few things that SimCity got right such as expanding onto a building, for example, adding more garages to an already existing fire department. I also love all of the specialization in SimCity that I'm having a hard time finding in Cities, such as gambling. I really liked how you could see everything actually happening in SimCity, for example, if someone went to school, you would actually see them physically go to the school (by the way there are no school buses here). However, I do understand that each and every person actually doing something in the game could cause it to run slower or use too many resources.

    I love how big the maps are in this game and overall I'd give the graphics a 7/10. Even with the graphics turned all the way up on my PC, there seems to be some fade in the corners, I suppose this helps the game run smoothly but on a top notice PC I feel like I shouldn't be seeing that.

    I'd love to see this game go to the extremes though. I mean I'd even like to see things such as cell phone towers added in and having the responsibility of maintaining coverage, as well as other things such as ISP and Cable TV contracts and things of that nature. I'd just like to see more of what really goes on in a city, in Cities: Skylines. My biggest complaint is that there just isn't enough to do in the game.    … Expand
  76. ricklongo
    Sep 14, 2015
    9
    Back in 1996, a cousin introduced me to the first SimCity, and it just blew my mind. I was accustomed to games being fairly linear affairs, giving the player a lot of tightly orchestrated fun but very little control. In time I moved my strategy PC gaming from city simulation to stuff like Civilization and Heroes of Might and Magic, in no small part because, after SimCity 2000, most gamesBack in 1996, a cousin introduced me to the first SimCity, and it just blew my mind. I was accustomed to games being fairly linear affairs, giving the player a lot of tightly orchestrated fun but very little control. In time I moved my strategy PC gaming from city simulation to stuff like Civilization and Heroes of Might and Magic, in no small part because, after SimCity 2000, most games in the genre failed to really entice me in a big way. Cities Skylines, however, managed to rekindle the proverbial spark, especially because developer Colossal Order seems hellbent on undoing all the damage done by EA's immensely disappointing SimCity reboot a few years back.

    So yeah, forget all about that always-online crap, or the offensively tiny city sizes, or the lack of features. Cities Skylines works because it doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, instead focusing on the simple stuff that made those 90's city sims so addictive in the first place. It perfects several tried-and-true mechanics, such as residential, commercial, and industrial zoning, as well as the spread of electricity and sewage/water supply. Almost everything here seems like it was design to cut the fluff and allow you to focus on the actual fun part of making your city prosper.

    One of the defining characteristics of Cities Skylines is its focus on customization. And that's obviously awesome; after all, if I'm building my own cities, I want them to be unique, with their own structure, monuments and landmarks. For this purpose, the game features an extensive set of editing tools, encouraging players to try and bring their own ideas to life.

    If you're not editing-inclined, worry not: it's extremely easy to browse the Steam Workshop for new assets to add to your city-building options, from real-world buildings and landmarks (although, to be honest, I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want those things in their custom city; but hey, that's me) to a large amount of original stuff, including alternate designs for the in-game assets.

    But that's not all: at this point, savvy creators have already came up with some very useful mods, allowing you, for example, to better manage your bus/subway lines, to zoom in and take a first-person walk through the streets, or even to fly a plane over the city. This process of creation will obviously continue for as long as the game remains popular, adding more replay value to a title that already has lots of it.

    Of course, city simulation involves many different variables, meaning some less-than-polished aspects are bound to show up from time to time. Sometimes a building will have a crime problem that doesn't seem to get solved even when you surround it with police stations; other times your landfills won't send out its truck fleet even with a huge, six-lane road clearly in front of it; or maybe you'll have a lack of workers on industries that just won't go away, no matter how many residential areas you build nearby. These problems can get frustrating sometimes, but they'll more often be submerged by the sheer amount of stuff that works great.

    You could say the city simulation genre was one of the big epiphanies in my gaming life, and Cities Skylines more than does it justice. It's an addictive, well-designed, ambitious title that actually knows why these strategy games tend to glue enthusiasts in front of the computer, making it by far the best city sim released in a long time.

    Rating: 9.0    … Expand
  77. BenHazelden
    Sep 7, 2015
    5
    A good City Builder game, however I discovered it to be quite boring after a very little amount of time. The upgrade system is good, as are the graphics and general layout, but it was far too slow-paced for myself.
  78. rubencristiano9
    Sep 6, 2015
    8
    Note: I have played the first version that includes no real patches for the game, so I might be listing problems that aren't there anymore because they have been fixed.

    Great graphics for a city builder, looks like a game from a triple AAA team although you can see the holes from them not being one at the time of creation, the major flaw being the lack of buildings or maps in the game.    Note: I have played the first version that includes no real patches for the game, so I might be listing problems that aren't there anymore because they have been fixed.

    Great graphics for a city builder, looks like a game from a triple AAA team although you can see the holes from them not being one at the time of creation, the major flaw being the lack of buildings or maps in the game.

    Enjoyed it for a solid 15-20 hours but ended up with a great amount of cash and the only real thing you were doing is just expanding, sounds like a weired criticism but I think were I'm trying to get to here is that it could of done with a bit more challenge in it or some events that changed the theme a bit.

    Also there was no real tutorial whatsoever and had to figure stuff out by yourself, most of it was pretty intuitive but I feel they could of tried to explain or at least have a text in the options or help section for the public transport which can get pretty complex and results in trial and error most of the time.

    You feel a bit lonely in the game because you never really hear anything from anyone, no objectives to do no nothing, only a stupid little bird on top that you couldn't remove till a future patch.

    It's ok I guess, I feel that if it wasn't for the major downfall of the Simcity game back in 2013 this game wouldn't of received half of the critical acclaim it had and still is receiving.

    Hopefully with the money they get they can create an even better game in the future and give some competitivness in the market for the genre which I will receive open handed.    … Expand
  79. blackbird1
    Sep 2, 2015
    4
    Be aware of hyped games right? When this game came out I was in the middle of a SimCity 4 Lets Play and I will compare these two games. I will not list all the quirks and bugs but try to give you an overview of the gameplay:

    In a nutshell CS is a traffic simulator with added city builder while SC4 is a city builder / manager game. Budget controls in CS are simpler. You can't get a    Be aware of hyped games right? When this game came out I was in the middle of a SimCity 4 Lets Play and I will compare these two games. I will not list all the quirks and bugs but try to give you an overview of the gameplay:

    In a nutshell CS is a traffic simulator with added city builder while SC4 is a city builder / manager game. Budget controls in CS are simpler. You can't get a breakdown of your cost per department (like pipe maintenance, water pumps etc.). You can not change budgets for individual buildings (like a school in a low density district or vice versa). When you want to enact policies it does not estimate the costs for you. Tax control is less fine grained than SC4.

    Here is the typical gameplay for CS: Build roads, level up, build more roads and buildings, level up, build more of the same, level up....you see a pattern here. The game practically forces you to build a "nice" and "green" city that satisfies all the citizens needs.

    In SC4 you are allowed to approach your citiy with different methods. You can build a high tech city, a business city, a gritty industrial town, a small farming community and so on. Plus all these cities can somehwat interact via the region mode. Of course in SC4 you build zones, grow, build more, add buildings etc. But you are challenged with more problems. IN CS you have to manage traffic, thats it, the rest is just grinding up. In SC4 you can get some persistant problems like unemployment, slums, pollution (air, water, nuclear..though not noise which is a nice addition in CS). I really miss the region mode where you can have a bustling metropolis and some suburb type communities around.

    Verdict: CS offers nothing more than SC4 except nice graphics if you are into bright colors. CS feels more like a sandbox city builder while SC4 is a proper city management and building game. Maybe CS gets there with mods and DLCs...but right now it is not recommended. If you enjoy building a nice looking city without too much difficulty..go ahead and buy CS...if you like a variety of challenges go for SC4.

    CS is not a bad game. It is a good game in fact if you like to build cities and manage traffic (where SC4 is far inferior without mods). But it just did not click with me. There is not enough management and too much building and tinkering with roads for my taste.    … Expand
  80. rahulgomez2025
    Aug 30, 2015
    0
    No replayability, difficult to design cities, sandbox mode not highlighted, lots og bugs! I really regretted buying a copy of this game. It could have been great but was a nightmare. The interface is really different as well
  81. lightyears
    Aug 26, 2015
    8
    Great game with outdated graphics. Good interface, enough buildings, great modding abilities, no permanent online requirement. ABility to built really large and complex cities. A lot of freedom while making up plans. What annoys me are the graphics. I want to build a beautiful city and really experience how beautiful it is. Unfortuantely the visuals are pretty bad. Eeven on highest qualityGreat game with outdated graphics. Good interface, enough buildings, great modding abilities, no permanent online requirement. ABility to built really large and complex cities. A lot of freedom while making up plans. What annoys me are the graphics. I want to build a beautiful city and really experience how beautiful it is. Unfortuantely the visuals are pretty bad. Eeven on highest quality settings. Well if you play the game longer you will get over the bad graphics and still have a great addictive gaming experience. Probably the best city builder of the last years. Only Tropico 5 comes close. But with better garphics the cities would have been so much more beautiful, impressing and realistic. So because of the dissapointing graphics I cant give the game more than a 80 score.… Expand
  82. jaehong
    Aug 16, 2015
    9
    This game is so good. But, I think that It has an error. For example, factories have a stock (full). And they can't sell. Also, stores can't get enough goods. What is reason about this error? Please fix this error.
  83. Annoymous1
    Aug 15, 2015
    8
    The proper alternative to the buggy and terribly un-creative SimCity, this game truly delivers to its purpose, make a good city-building game that delivers a fun expereince. Brilliant.
  84. omalley
    Jul 24, 2015
    10
    I started out with City Builder games with Sim City 4. That game was so good that I carried on playing it until my cds got too scratched up. I bought it again yet and continued playing it until the new Sim City where you have to cram you're city into a very tight space. No longer with Cities: Skylines. Way better than Sim City 4 and that terrible Sim City game. It is addicting and you canI started out with City Builder games with Sim City 4. That game was so good that I carried on playing it until my cds got too scratched up. I bought it again yet and continued playing it until the new Sim City where you have to cram you're city into a very tight space. No longer with Cities: Skylines. Way better than Sim City 4 and that terrible Sim City game. It is addicting and you can make huge cities that go on for miles, make winding roads. You can name just about anything. You can even name tiny little people walking around in your city. Anything but streets which I find weird but it doesn't bother me. This game is the perfect city builder and if anything that you would find missing from the game, the modding community has it. BUY THIS GAME.… Expand
  85. RaidenXel
    Jul 9, 2015
    8
    This game is fun, don't get me wrong, but it gets boring REALLY fast. I like all the mod support and what it allows the Steam community to do what they do best. I hope this won't turn out like SimCity.
  86. GRater12
    Jul 4, 2015
    10
    Best city builder in a long time. It has all the important aspects that a true city building, simulation game would need. Much more advanced than the simcity series.
  87. Hakrit
    Jul 1, 2015
    8
    This game is effin' GREAT. It's like they took SimCity, removed all the bad stuff, and multiplied the result by 10. Or 25, if we are talking about available city size - because that's how much bigger cities you can create in Cities Skylines. BUT this game still doesn't deserve a 10/10 or even a 9/10 - all because of the broken road system - it's not infrequent for citizens to use only oneThis game is effin' GREAT. It's like they took SimCity, removed all the bad stuff, and multiplied the result by 10. Or 25, if we are talking about available city size - because that's how much bigger cities you can create in Cities Skylines. BUT this game still doesn't deserve a 10/10 or even a 9/10 - all because of the broken road system - it's not infrequent for citizens to use only one lane, even thought 3 or 4 are given. This is a major problem, which can eventually destroy your city, because traffics jam everywhere means ambulances getting to their patients too late etc, garbage trucks will never reach their destination etc.… Expand
  88. CartoonHead
    Jun 28, 2015
    0
    Waste of money. Game is only about a quarter finished with many missing features. The Devs have given up and opened up the steam workshop to let the community finish the game. The Devs on Steam are overzealous and ban for even the slightest criticism, like I asked why there is no Paint feature for tree's because it hurts my wrists clicking each individual tree in for hours. On theWaste of money. Game is only about a quarter finished with many missing features. The Devs have given up and opened up the steam workshop to let the community finish the game. The Devs on Steam are overzealous and ban for even the slightest criticism, like I asked why there is no Paint feature for tree's because it hurts my wrists clicking each individual tree in for hours. On the official map there are tones of bus like water running inland from the sea and one map there is no water current or alternative to wash away was water so you end up with a bay full of **** that just spreads and doesn't go anywhere.

    There are only like 10 different vehicle models, which sounds fin expect when you get hundreds of thousands of childish looking doughnuts driving around your street. So yeah, with heaving modding thanks to talented people this game is acceptable, but Paradox and Creative Order once again prove they are the lazyiest Devs about by putting out featureless games and saying the hard part is working around that.    … Expand
  89. clansfear
    Jun 23, 2015
    5
    Dissapointed. Just like all latest city-games it focuses so much on roads and traffic. I was hoping for a chance to create large pedestrian paths in the suburbs. Nope.
  90. smuniz83
    Jun 10, 2015
    10
    Basically just like Simcity but without the stupid DRM or bugs that it had like:

    -For the first part It works. Anyone who bought Simcity knows the launch woes it had and was unplayable for a week and then the bugs it had for a very long time(don't know if they ever got fixed and I played it for half a year on and off) -Offline gameplay I mean seriously who in EA thought it was a good    Basically just like Simcity but without the stupid DRM or bugs that it had like:

    -For the first part It works. Anyone who bought Simcity knows the launch woes it had and was unplayable for a week and then the bugs it had for a very long time(don't know if they ever got fixed and I played it for half a year on and off)
    -Offline gameplay I mean seriously who in EA thought it was a good idea to make it always online. Now it would be nice if paradox had some multiplayer gameplay but at least you can always play without worrying about your internet connection.
    -Modding support. EA swore up and down that Simcity couldn't be played offline only to be caught redhanded when some modders found a way to do it but of course EA put a stop to that which only goes to show the love that EA has for modders. Paradox on the other understands that modders help the game and it's exactly what it does. Heck I doubt there is a person out there playing cities skylines without mods.
    -Bigger maps. I like how they set it up where you start small and then grow big and grow big by buying lands which adds to the size of land you already have. and if you want to grow bigger there's a mod for that too.

    For the most part it's your basic simcity game that works and plays well and hopefully Paradox adds on to the game some cool features but if not there are always the modders out there working to make the game better which by the way a huge thanks to them for their work. This game is a must buy for any city simulator fan and those wanting to try it out. 10/10 because it works and you get your moneys worth at 30$ or more if you want the deluxe edition.    … Expand
  91. Midds
    Jun 7, 2015
    8
    Cities: Skyline is the greatest city builder of recent years. It provides a great balance between complexity and usability and is also boasts an incredibly intuitive and sturdy road building mechanic. The game has a decent aesthetic and replayability is quite high.

    The amount of content and updates from the developers is lacking however this is completely overshadowed by the modding    Cities: Skyline is the greatest city builder of recent years. It provides a great balance between complexity and usability and is also boasts an incredibly intuitive and sturdy road building mechanic. The game has a decent aesthetic and replayability is quite high.

    The amount of content and updates from the developers is lacking however this is completely overshadowed by the modding support, and its community that have continuously strived to make additional content for the game.

    Each mode of transport does have seem to have some aesthetic bugs/quirks but doesn't take away from the overall experience.

    It is a great game overall and highly recommended.    … Expand
  92. MihaiKrieger
    Jun 4, 2015
    9
    A modern take on city building simulation. Supports mods extensively and does not have the classical grid system. The car AI is scripted though. I would have expected something more intelligent, but it's good enough for a game of this magnitude.
  93. iampakky
    Jun 2, 2015
    3
    I can see why this game is well received among leisure players. They hate SimCity so much that they vote for Cities in which provided what they asked for. But seriously, this game inner system is quite shallow. I said this after playing over 100 hrs on both games. There are so many things that you can't really make logical senses out of the system. All transportation system, policies,I can see why this game is well received among leisure players. They hate SimCity so much that they vote for Cities in which provided what they asked for. But seriously, this game inner system is quite shallow. I said this after playing over 100 hrs on both games. There are so many things that you can't really make logical senses out of the system. All transportation system, policies, zoning are meaningless and not contributed to efficiency, wealth or growth of the city.… Expand
  94. empleat
    Jun 2, 2015
    8
    Good simulator, intuitive and overall better than others.
    A lot of space for cities and lot of thing you can build.
    Also this game has workshop, so there will be new content.
    Just traffic is a bit problem in this game, play slow and make saves.
  95. lowaverage
    May 31, 2015
    10
    well to be honest there is only one way to describe this game. this game is beautiful it is magniflorious it is the best city builder game i have ever played and if you have not got this game yet and you are still playing simcity you should be ashamed you should be so ashamed you should not even be called a gamer. this is the one game that stood forth and put sims city to shame. and aboutwell to be honest there is only one way to describe this game. this game is beautiful it is magniflorious it is the best city builder game i have ever played and if you have not got this game yet and you are still playing simcity you should be ashamed you should be so ashamed you should not even be called a gamer. this is the one game that stood forth and put sims city to shame. and about time too. so enough blabbing about why you should buy it lets focus on the game and its community. where do i start the modding community is huge i mean massive and also one of the best. and the main game oh my the game is amazing the graphics are indescribable the variation of vehicles is amazing they use a different variation of colour for every vehicle and a massive variety of building designs. and that's all i will say if i was to describe the full game i would reach the max character limit of 5000 words the game is that expansive and it will always be the game simcity wanted to be and it will probably be that way until the world ends. and wow this is one of the longest critic reviews i have ever written and i ain't much of a critic.… Expand
  96. MetaAwesome
    May 30, 2015
    9
    One of the best city builder games.

    Pros: - FREE UPDATES and FREE CONTENT being released by developers, for example, TUNNELS and NEW BUILDINGS. - ENORMOUS maps - ENORMOUS modding community - Transport feels ALIVE and your subtle alterations can have huge impacts on the effeciency of transport. - Game LOOKS great. - SIMULATED POPULATION breaths life into cities. - EXCELLENT    One of the best city builder games.

    Pros:
    - FREE UPDATES and FREE CONTENT being released by developers, for example, TUNNELS and NEW BUILDINGS.
    - ENORMOUS maps
    - ENORMOUS modding community
    - Transport feels ALIVE and your subtle alterations can have huge impacts on the effeciency of transport.
    - Game LOOKS great.
    - SIMULATED POPULATION breaths life into cities.
    - EXCELLENT FEEDBACK in-game explains how to upgrade your buildings.
    - MAP EDITOR to create unique maps.
    - ASSET EDITOR to create unique buildings and upload user models.
    - PRICE is VERY REASONABLE.
    - ability to build RAISED ROADS and HIGHWAYS leads to very realistic and imaginative creations.

    Cons:
    - CHIRPER THING AT THE TOP OF THE SCREEN IS BIG, BULKY, AND GETS IN THE WAY OF VIEWING CITIES.
    - Game is quite EASY.
    - Not a huge number of special buildings. Eg. Police stations, hospitals. Fortunately this is fixed by the ENDLESS MODDING COMMUNITY.
    - Not a huge variety of POLICIES that can be implemented. Policies are very basic and implemented without much depth.    … Expand
  97. ronaldlee0917
    May 27, 2015
    8
    An overall good city builder game.
    However, it is too easy to play.
    You will spend most of your time managing the traffic problems.
    Other aspects of the game is not challenging and thus becomes boring quickly.
  98. ggggggggg
    May 23, 2015
    10
    SimCity 4 in 3D. Nothing else to say.
    But since the review needs to be longer, I'll say this: It's SimCity 4's level of awesomeness and SimCity 2013's level of Traffic Jams. But it's not SimCity 2013's level of Roads to Traffic Jam on.
  99. JohnKristofer
    May 23, 2015
    9
    Truly a fun game to play if you want to create your own city,It is addictive and fun.The game can let you create your own city that needed your creativity to work.Spending hours of creating a city that you wanted to create.Cities:Skyline is a well-made city builder game.
  100. Tick
    May 22, 2015
    9
    This is a great city game. Design, flow, all of it. Solid from the bottom up.

    I do have to take away a mark because it doesn't take advantage of half decent rigs and up. You're limited in how many zones you can take, and all that stuff, because they didn't want the game to be unplayable on POS computers. I should have an option in the game where my system specs let me do more. I have    This is a great city game. Design, flow, all of it. Solid from the bottom up.

    I do have to take away a mark because it doesn't take advantage of half decent rigs and up. You're limited in how many zones you can take, and all that stuff, because they didn't want the game to be unplayable on POS computers.

    I should have an option in the game where my system specs let me do more. I have a 6 core I7, with 16 gigs of ram, with a total of 8 Gigs of video ram on two cards.

    I would be taking off 2 points here but modding lets people bypass this limitation to a degree.

    I strongly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys city games.    … Expand
Page:

Awards & Rankings

19
#19 Best PC Game of 2015
13
#13 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
37
#37 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 60 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 58 out of 60
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 60
  3. Negative: 0 out of 60
  1. PCWorld
    Jan 21, 2016
    80
    Cities: Skylines somehow lives up to the unfair expectations heaped upon it, presenting one of the best city builders in years.
    Read full review
  2. Eurogamer Italy
    Aug 12, 2015
    80
    Cities: Skyline is the game SimCity should have been: a great game and a greater base for modders.
    Read full review
  3. DarkStation
    May 27, 2015
    100
    This game managed to be everything I had hoped it would be and then some, with all the wonderful attention to little details and customization options. Fans of the genre wont want to miss this one.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »