In an attempt to learn everything there is to know about our Game of the Month, Cities: Skylines [official site], I spoke to Colossal Order’s CEO Mariina Hallikainen until we both ran out of words. We talked about the game’s extraordinary success and what it means for the future of the 13-person company, the importance of mods, the fate of Cities in Motion, and the influence of dear departed Maxis. Along the way, there are discussions about simulations as educational tools, Colossal Order’s next project, and the importance of a good working environment and the avoidance of crunch.

Most important of all? The origin story of Chirper.>

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A floating speech bubble appears over Videogame City, signalling that the citizens are demanding something. Clicking on it reveals the source of problem: “Not enough good city builders.” It seems all that have been built so far are poorly connected to the (road) network, too small to cater to the growing population, and otherwise stocked too poorly with what people want.

Best construct Cities: Skylines [official site]. It has huge cities, mod support and works offline, but is it doing more than simply filling a hole created by its peers? John, Alec, Adam, Pip and Graham gathered to discuss why it’s the RPS’ Game of the Month for April.

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Did you know? Seven million games were released yesterday. Such a constant deluge can make it difficult to keep up with what’s happening right now in the world of PC games, and while RPS exists to tell you the four million games you must be playing on any given day, it’s possible you have even less> time. What if you need to pick just one game> to play?

That’s what Game Of The Month is for. On the first of each month, we’ll pick one released game to highlight for the rest of that month. It’s us saying: if you should be paying attention to one thing right now, this is it. We’ll then write about that game more throughout the rest of the month, explaining why we love it in a group verdict, interviewing the developers for insight about its creation and future, writing fun diaries that show you what it’s like to play, and more.

First up, Cities: Skylines [official site].

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There’s already been a Cities: Skylines [official site] mod that lets you wander your streets from a low, ‘first-person’ style camera, but what about doing it with a friend? Reddit user ‘Fr0sZ’ posted a video today of his work-in-progress Cities Skylines multiplayer mod, in which each player is represented in the world as a pedestrian avatar and able to walk around. See below.

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It’s crazy how big publishers seem so fearful of mods, given how they’ve a proven track record for keeping a game popular. Skyrim still generates regular news stories due to its thriving mod community, and I’m pretty sure Paradox’s rapturously-received townbuilder Cities: Skylines is going to do similar. To take a look at its Steam Workshop library of community creations is to disappear down a rabbit hole of tinkering, as hundreds of players seek to finetune the cities of their dreams. Compare this to be walled garden of SimCity and it’s clear to see why citybuilder fans have taken Skylines to heart.

Any claim to have made a definitive Best Of compilation is an insane one, given the speed at which new creations arrive, and due to the high subjectivity involved. An authetically-shaped Australian football pitch is probably a Godsend to someone, for instance, whereas something that automatically bulldozes abandoned or burned-out buildings was what made me rub my lazy hands with glee. But, for now, here are just a few selected highlights to be getting on with. Please do suggest more below. … [visit site to read more]