Cities: Skylines - Nintendo Switch Edition

 Switch
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 56 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 40 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 56
  3. Negative: 12 out of 56

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  1. Zalabar22
    Sep 23, 2018
    8
    I'll start by saying this is a really solid port. I've really enjoyed playing the last few days and am amazed that they were able to get the entire Cities: Skylines experience on the switch. The biggest thing pulling the game down is the frame rate as your city grows. Ive often had it slow down to 15-20 frames while in a busy area of my city which can really make your game feel sluggishI'll start by saying this is a really solid port. I've really enjoyed playing the last few days and am amazed that they were able to get the entire Cities: Skylines experience on the switch. The biggest thing pulling the game down is the frame rate as your city grows. Ive often had it slow down to 15-20 frames while in a busy area of my city which can really make your game feel sluggish and unresponsive. Luckily, if you zoom out a bit and slow down the time when zoomed in close it runs very smooth. All in all if you enjoy city management games and have always wanted a full Sim City styled experience on the go, I can honestly say this is the best way to scratch that itch.… Expand
  2. Haxorinator
    Sep 30, 2018
    8
    Cities: Skylines - Nintendo Switch Edition is another great entry for the system. There is a lot to do in this massive game, albeit slightly hampered by the capabilities of the Switch.

    The only complaint is a lower frame rate, although not entirely necessary (this isn't an action game that requires a high frame rate) to get a good experience, it does slightly hamper game-play,    Cities: Skylines - Nintendo Switch Edition is another great entry for the system. There is a lot to do in this massive game, albeit slightly hampered by the capabilities of the Switch.

    The only complaint is a lower frame rate, although not entirely necessary (this isn't an action game that requires a high frame rate) to get a good experience, it does slightly hamper game-play, especially once cities start getting larger.

    A decent port, a great game. If you're even looking for something of this genre, this is a must buy!    … Expand
  3. Duckers_McQuack
    Feb 20, 2021
    2
    It gets a weak 2 for me because just like on pc, it has 10.000 UI updates per second. A highly unnecessary draw calls from the poor switch port with poor fps.

    I use a mod that greatly reduces the amount of unnecessary updates per second on pc, and basically doubled my fps from 27 to 48 fps on 5900x, and this is a necessity for the outdated and weak quadcore of the switch.
  4. Kabaal
    Sep 16, 2018
    8
    It's amazing to have a game like that on the switch. Ok all is not perfect but nothing to stop the enjoy. Really a pleasure to play to this game wherever you want.
  5. Mrb0b
    Sep 16, 2018
    10
    This is just perfect, Cities: Skylines on the switch runs suprisingly well and is incredible fun to play. Experienced docked and portable gameplay, and both run very intuitively when there are so many options available. Can't wait for the Green Cities and Mass Transit expansions!
  6. Voodooseeker
    Sep 18, 2018
    10
    I've been playing this SO much on my game-monster PC.....I was so surprised about this release. Cities: Skylines run very well - indeed in handled also. I had my doubts about the controls - but they made a really nice job to controller version.
    True that it has some frame drops in saving or very high speed on a large city.....but my PC version also has that, nothing that breaks my mayor    I've been playing this SO much on my game-monster PC.....I was so surprised about this release. Cities: Skylines run very well - indeed in handled also. I had my doubts about the controls - but they made a really nice job to controller version.
    True that it has some frame drops in saving or very high speed on a large city.....but my PC version also has that, nothing that breaks my mayor fun :)
    Some of the views/inforscreens do I think is better on the Switch than the PC.
    I'm hoping more DLC + updates will be released in the future!    … Expand
  7. diabloNL
    Sep 19, 2018
    9
    Great game! Don't listen to the negative reviews. Watch some Youtube videos and decide for yourself. I'm having a blast!
  8. Vmac19
    Jan 1, 2020
    0
    Do not play the Nintendo switch version it is bad. It is very glitchy and lags so bad. There is a 5-20 second lag in-between each time you press the A button to place an object down and if you move the cursor before it places the object down it will place it in the wrong place. The graphics are very bad in handheld mode. It looks like Sims 2000 on the PlayStation 1 from 20 years ago. IDo not play the Nintendo switch version it is bad. It is very glitchy and lags so bad. There is a 5-20 second lag in-between each time you press the A button to place an object down and if you move the cursor before it places the object down it will place it in the wrong place. The graphics are very bad in handheld mode. It looks like Sims 2000 on the PlayStation 1 from 20 years ago. I will be deleting the game. I just wish I could get my money back… Expand
  9. SailorSonic
    Sep 24, 2018
    1
    Just another old port of a game that runs better on every other platform. And this game wasn't even great to begin with.
  10. tovare
    Sep 20, 2018
    8
    I have never played this game on other platforms, and I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and flexibility of the simulation. City Skylines is a fantastic simulation, in the sense that the core challenge lies in building in designing, zoning and managing a city. I am on my 3. city, I haven´t seen a game over screen and this is not that kind of game (although I have seen bankruptcyI have never played this game on other platforms, and I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and flexibility of the simulation. City Skylines is a fantastic simulation, in the sense that the core challenge lies in building in designing, zoning and managing a city. I am on my 3. city, I haven´t seen a game over screen and this is not that kind of game (although I have seen bankruptcy warning and offers of a one-time bailout where you. but I started a new city because I did design-mistakes and learned from those)

    The game works really well in portable mode. but you will need to zoom in quite a bit to see the 5-point marker when you measure road length (useful when you follow tutorials on youtube for a battery or do precision designs). I have so far just played the default mode with limited resources where more stuff unlock as you go. You can play it differently by turning on unlimited budgets etc. I have 40+ hours of game time, and when I start it´s hard to stop. It´s a bit casual but extremely engaging, and find myself doing detail stuff like getting info on individual cars to see where they are going and giving garbage trucks customized names. This game is so good.

    I noticed a few places have commented on the frame-rate, but the game remains very playable.    … Expand
  11. Calibur-X
    Oct 5, 2018
    10
    The game works perfectly in switch, dont hear sony trolls or bribed press, all lies
  12. Agamer19
    Dec 1, 2018
    10
    Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not toCities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!Cities Skylines on the go whats not to like!… Expand
  13. timotei
    Jul 10, 2019
    9
    My most played game on my Switch - apart from Breath of the Wild and Odyssey. If you like city building games, don't hesitate with this one.
  14. KlingonGamerYT
    Jun 5, 2020
    9
    a decent game played for hours found the game to be full of content too plenty to do you get a real good package AS ALWAYS from the makers of the game and it shows plenty to do and not so easy when you start out as the Klingon gamer on YT ive played a few of these over the years and this one was a lot more enjoyable the interface is not so cluttered some stutter yeah but does not impacta decent game played for hours found the game to be full of content too plenty to do you get a real good package AS ALWAYS from the makers of the game and it shows plenty to do and not so easy when you start out as the Klingon gamer on YT ive played a few of these over the years and this one was a lot more enjoyable the interface is not so cluttered some stutter yeah but does not impact gameplay I played with little to no issues good game good port… Expand
  15. Gingerly_Ginger
    Sep 19, 2018
    8
    Cities: Skylines is the critically acclaimed, detailed, and realistic city simulation game, previously released on PC, MacOS, and the other major consoles of the eighth generation. Finally, it's come to Switch. Does this portable port have enough good ports to portchase it? Uh, I mean enough good parts to- oh, forget it. Proceed.

    You start off with some land of your choice. At the    Cities: Skylines is the critically acclaimed, detailed, and realistic city simulation game, previously released on PC, MacOS, and the other major consoles of the eighth generation. Finally, it's come to Switch. Does this portable port have enough good ports to portchase it? Uh, I mean enough good parts to- oh, forget it. Proceed.

    You start off with some land of your choice. At the start, you will have a lot of room to work with, and even more than that later on. Should you opt to use the tutorial, you will start your world with instructions saying you should make a road. You'll want to connect this road to the other, already present roads leading in and out of your city's area. After that, use the zoning tool to designate areas alongside roads, preparing them for either residential, commercial, or industrial buildings. With that done, your buildings will require electricity and water.

    There's more to say, but it's quite a mouthful, so I recommend checking out a summary of the game. Overall, the start of the game always has you doing something, whether it's stopping the flu, making another fire station, preventing blackouts yet again, etc. The game excels at being what it is, a realistic city simulator. Traffic is also roughly accurate and can be fun to watch when you have nothing to do. I've seen occasional bugs in the traffic, like firetrucks teleporting and getting stuck-in-place, as well trucks passing through their rear trailers while turning, but they still seem like intelligent little in-game drivers. The people are impressive, too. The Nintendo Direct trailer puts it wonderfully: "Sometimes it's the small details that stand out the most." When there's a fire, the people rush from the building. When they need to, they'll go to work. They're one of the nicer touches of this game.

    Once your city is large and you've unlocked all, or almost all, the milestones, you're left with what is a near perfect city. And if you aren't, you've probably done something wrong. While it's nice to be able to relax and look at your perfect, or near perfect, city with no distractions, this does get boring. You could challenge yourself to make your city as big and flawless as possible, but that's not going to be as fun as your first four or five hours of playing with that world. It's a bit like Stardew Valley by Concerned Ape. Its beginning is great, but after the first two or three years in the game, boredom starts to set in.

    One especially neat aspect of the game is the economy. You can raise the budget of your city's services, and even give them different night and day budgets. Lowering the budget of a service below the normal 100% typically results in it losing efficiency or range, while raising it above said 100% will typically increase these factors. And it's not all about budgets, either. You can raise and lower taxes for different areas and zones, though raising it higher than 13% will result in a complaint or two from your taxpayers. These features, along with loans, can be unlocked once you've reached a milestone or two.

    This game is a terrific one for any city simulator fan, but let's say you've never played a city simulation, or perhaps not a very recent one, and you've done little research into how they tend to work. When you start off, you're not going to get how a lot of things are supposed to work, even with the tutorial turned on. Things generally feel under-explained, and problems that you believe have no solution may fix themselves somehow. It'll most likely take an inexperienced player a good bit of research to get used to how the game works. YouTube really helps if you're in a jam, but frankly, this reviewer prefers games that actually show you how these sorts of things work in detail rather than making you look it up.

    Back to some summarizing, the graphics don't look too bad, but seem like a downgrade from other consoles and PC, though that is to be expected. Fire hydrants, street lamps, and other minor details will only render when you get within a fairly close distance of them. In terms of Framerate, it falls to 30 fps when you get closer to your buildings. It may fall lower when your city gets fairly large. When zoomed out, you should find a steady 60 fps or so.

    Conclusion:
    If you're someone who likes city simulators and you intend to use this one on-the-go (or even just on your bed), you'll enjoy Cities: Skylines - Nintendo Switch Edition. If you've never played a city simulator, I would be careful with this purchase. Do your research before and after buying the game. It's tricky to get the hang of. You may still really enjoy it. Despite a few flaws, mostly small, this game is what we here like to call a great one. A lack of things to do after the city grows large and a good bit of web research required are the main attributes to the overall rating. Touch-controls would be nice, too... Still, the average city sim fan will put down their money and thoroughly enjoy this title.    … Expand
  16. Syhlcam
    Sep 27, 2020
    7
    Le jeu fonctionne très bien, le jeu est le même que sur les autres supports, comme Xbox One et PC. Cependant, comme on peut le prévoir au terme d'une partie avec une ville très développer les fps souffre ainsi que les chargements, ce n'est pas catastrophique mais dommage. Dommage également que le tactile ne soit pas pris en compte, c'est seulement les versions Xbox/PS4 porter sur Switch.
  17. seyon
    Mar 13, 2020
    10
    After Animal Crossing and Zelda Breath of The Wild, this is the game by far that I most play on my Switch. The performance issues are not a thing for the wonderful portable playability, on a laptop (i7 with 12Gb ram, ssd disk) I have a worst performance than on Switch. After you get used to the controls you have a better experience than on a PC.
  18. obzhora69
    Jun 6, 2020
    8
    Its one of my favourite games, which I prefer playing portable. I spent a lot of hours in it.
    Perfomance issues hit after some amount of citizens, but its still playable. Its a shame that developer stopped updating the game. I hope after some kind of switch pro release, devs will reconsider their decision.
  19. PBandJ
    Dec 10, 2020
    8
    Honestly those who commented on the Framerate need to fix their expectations. This game runs surprisingly well on the Switch in both handheld and docked modes. I have a city nearly 100k big and still get a solid 25-30, which is definitely playable given that it's 100% portable. My only complaint is that to do this there are a number drawbacks **IF** you're coming from PC. Once you hit aHonestly those who commented on the Framerate need to fix their expectations. This game runs surprisingly well on the Switch in both handheld and docked modes. I have a city nearly 100k big and still get a solid 25-30, which is definitely playable given that it's 100% portable. My only complaint is that to do this there are a number drawbacks **IF** you're coming from PC. Once you hit a certain population the simulation speed is locked out at 2x speed max, there's reduced tools such as per district policies and traffic light options. However like I said these are only mild complaints from a seasoned PC player used to 100+ mods. If you've never played it before or only played vanilla PC you'll have a blast considering you can play this amazing city simulator anywhere you want!… Expand
  20. someonewhocares
    Jul 2, 2022
    4
    The game heavily depends on Patience, and I have none! Cities Skylines is a game that came from the PC and was modified to go on the Switch because the console keeps selling and sells incredibly well, but, this version is confusing, poorly designed and feels slightly off. It will take forever to figure out what you're doing since the game tells you what you need to do, but lets you figureThe game heavily depends on Patience, and I have none! Cities Skylines is a game that came from the PC and was modified to go on the Switch because the console keeps selling and sells incredibly well, but, this version is confusing, poorly designed and feels slightly off. It will take forever to figure out what you're doing since the game tells you what you need to do, but lets you figure it out on your own, which can be aggravating for gamers who wanted a change to their generic RPGs to create their own city. So beginners to simulation games like this are not gonna have a good time when they first buy the game. Eventually, you will learn the controls and enjoy the game, but this wasn't it for me.… Expand
  21. NukeJai
    Jan 11, 2023
    8
    Great game in all but I’m disappointed that you can’t access any mods or DLCs (except snowfall and after dark) or the “Unlimited Soil” option on the Nintendo Switch version. I just hope that Nintendo could get in touch with Paradox Interactive to talk about and consider bringing the mods and DLCs to the Nintendo eShop and enabling “Unlimited Soil” so people can build the city of theirGreat game in all but I’m disappointed that you can’t access any mods or DLCs (except snowfall and after dark) or the “Unlimited Soil” option on the Nintendo Switch version. I just hope that Nintendo could get in touch with Paradox Interactive to talk about and consider bringing the mods and DLCs to the Nintendo eShop and enabling “Unlimited Soil” so people can build the city of their dreams without limits. Otherwise it’s a fun game.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

74
#74 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
67

Mixed or average reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 18
  3. Negative: 1 out of 18
  1. Cubed3
    Jan 25, 2019
    80
    Cities: Skylines is one of, if not the premier city building sim on the market. The amount of detail it is able to cram into every facet of the experience can feel intimidating at first, but getting to know all of the features at their disposal will be both crucial and satisfying in the player's pursuit of the greatest city on Earth. Some performance issues place a damper on the experience, as does the absence of content available in other versions of the game. Regardless, for Switch owners wanting to get their fix of constructing their very own megalopolis would be hard pressed to find a better resource than this.
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  2. FNintendo
    Dec 21, 2018
    70
    Cities: Skylines has been adapted to the Nintendo Switch in a competent way that allows for this city management experience to be thoroughly enjoyed in a format that at first might not seem the most suitable. Despite a certain loss of detail when it comes to the visual environment, the game provides for some fun and involving moments and will certainly appeal to fans of city simulations.
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  3. Nintendojo
    Oct 30, 2018
    75
    Overall, this is a PC-quality, bonafide City Simulation game on a handheld console. Regardless of the system it is on, Cities Skylines is a one of the better games in the genre despite some flaws and missing features. If you can look past the performance issues during certain circumstances, this is a wonderful and remarkable game to be able to play on the go and at home that can keep you busy and entertained for the foreseeable future.
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