As of 7/12/16 and with 103 hours of playtime, I think I can make a solid review about this game. Long story short, I bought this because the new Sim City was trash, but I was not ready for this game to exceed my expectations.

Now for a short review: (SKIP TOWARDS "I'M TOO LAZY" IF YOU ARE TOO LAZY TO READ THE FULL REVIEW)

Cities: Skylines is a phenomenal city building game, perhaps even better than any of the Sim City games. It is a sandbox game that has an unlimited replay value and will devour hours of your days. Its laid-back graphic style, realistic audio effects, and relaxing music provide a calm and entertaining game time. The game unrestrically allows you to build at your own pace while providing a fun challenging experience.

While the game is a little tough on beginners (it has very few basic tutorials) it still seems easy to get a hang of. With time, and the Steam community guides, you will become a master of this game and having done so without much frustration, a simple learning curve.

Between all of the user created mods, bountiful amount of vanilla game content, and developers amazing DLC, you will undoubtedly enjoy every game session and you will never find the game repetitive.

I, without any hesitation, fully recommend Cities: Skylines to anyone interested in purchasing this. Even if you are new to the city building genre, you will appreciate every cent you paid for this game because of what it has to offer.



I'M TOO LAZY
Pros:
- Limitless replayability
- Abundant game content (including free mods and game DLC)
- Steam workshop support
- Challenging but fun

Cons:
- Larger cities can reduce framerates, even on beefy computers
- Difficult for new players (lacks necessary tutorials)
- No natural disasters or multiplayer (unlike Sim City)



I'm sure I will have missed some things (both good and bad) worth mentioning so feel free to comment on this review or ask questions in the discussions. The Cities: Skylines community is welcoming and we all help each other.

Also, if this review influenced you to buy the game, please comment. I would like to see how many people I helped.

Sincerely,
BOT Harvey

> Builds basketball court
> Checks how much tourism in the city
> Basketball court is tourist location...

Dad: "Hey family where should we go for our family vacation this summer?"
Son: "Hey Dad I heard about this basketball court in this city that no one has ever heard of, wanna go there this summer?"
Dad: "Sure son, that will be so much fun! This summer vacation will be a blast!"

• Developers: Colossal Order Ltd.
  
• Publishers: Paradox Interactive
  
• Initial release: March 2015
  
• Genre: Simulation, City Builder
  
• #Worth/NotWorth: #Worth

Cities: Skylines is a city builder and economy simulator in the vain of the oh so fallen from grace SimCity.

Skylines is essentially a sandbox for you to plan out, build certain amenities and hopefully people will want to move in and make your city thrive.

Initially when you first jump into the game it starts with many of the options grayed out and it sort of gates you in this manner as you get used to the basics of building roads and zoning out areas as well as providing electricity, water and sewage treatment facilities. Then, as things unlock such as healthcare facilities and schools, you'll be able to get a better grasp of each system.

You'll have access to crime, fire safety reports. As well as noise and actual pollution overlays. Should you desire to “go green” the use of wind turbines are also available as well as a corresponding wind chart for peak efficiency.

The game makes use of a relatively humorous but sometimes annoying fake twitter for your citizens to @mention you and tell what your doing wrong and in rare cases what you are doing right. At least in my experience.

You can inact policies like water preservation or power conservation and even things like mandatory smoke alarms in homes. Typically, at the cost of increased upkeep while decreasing use of resources or in this specific case the likelihood of fire even though that's not technically what fire alarms do. This is how the game “gameifies” that sentiment.

Anecdotal experience warning
There are weather effects and a day/night cycle. Which led to a moment I don't often have in gaming that was slightly existential. For setup, I was early on in my learning the game and had not really understood how to get things going faster when the first night struck. Without power, without people living in my city, it was entirely pitch black; And I had this rather obvious realization the more I think about it but at the time was borderline transcendental though I'm not fond of the connotations of that word; I was sat there “We really are just floating on a rock out in space”. As though this was not already obvious to everyone. This just seemed like a very odd and probably the least likely of places or style of game for someone to have that thought process. Let alone in a game at all.
Anyways, back on point

The game also features mod and steam workshop support which leads to nearly endless types of buildings and other various ideas that modders can come up with.

There is also economy and budget screens to adjust taxes on different districts or different zones. As well as increase or decrease funding of maintenance on city utilities and services.

If I had anything bad to say about the game is that it is not always overtly clear how to do something. It requires a lot of tooling around and experimenting. In a very specific example setting up bus routes is rather ill contrived, at times down right purposely misleading in its functionality. Though a tutorial on proper usage can easily be sought out if need be outside the game.

It also features what I'd consider a fairly unique aesthetic. It does indeed have a film grain slider. Which when combined with the depth of field and lighting gives this almost physical model like appeal. Like it's a table in your basement with your model trains running along it. Zooming in, if you just look down a street it almost feels alive. I want to invoke the powers of Mr. Rodgers here but I fear the reference may be lost among the traffic.

THE GIST
Superb city builder that scratches the niche of well done and in-depth simulation that many games seem to miss.

Follow my curation for more

When your city's economy crumbles, so will your heart.

The Best City Builder Sim I have ever played. The depth of simulation is mind-blowing. New challenges arise at every corner. This game encourages creative problem solving. Numerous great mods in the steam workshop. A must buy for any gamer.

10/10 would 6 fps on Intergrated Graphics Again

Fantastic game. Best city builder you can currently buy.

I'm obsessed.

best building game ever