Cities: Skylines Reviews
Cities: Skylines is a modern take on the classic city simulation. The game introduces new game play elements to realize the thrill and hardships of creating and maintaining a real city whilst expanding on some well-established tropes of the city building experience.
App ID | 255710 |
App Type | GAME |
Developers | Colossal Order Ltd. |
Publishers | Paradox Interactive |
Categories | Single-player, Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud, Steam Trading Cards, Steam Workshop, Remote Play on Tablet, Includes level editor |
Genres | Strategy, Simulation |
Release Date | 10 Mar, 2015 |
Platforms | Windows, Mac, Linux |
Supported Languages | English, Portuguese - Brazil, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Korean, Polish |

3 939 Total Reviews
3 634 Positive Reviews
305 Negative Reviews
Very Positive Score
Cities: Skylines has garnered a total of 3 939 reviews, with 3 634 positive reviews and 305 negative reviews, resulting in a ‘Very Positive’ overall score.
Reviews Chart
Chart above illustrates the trend of feedback for Cities: Skylines over time, showcasing the dynamic changes in player opinions as new updates and features have been introduced. This visual representation helps to understand the game's reception and how it has evolved.
Recent Steam Reviews
This section displays the 10 most recent Steam reviews for the game, showcasing a mix of player experiences and sentiments. Each review summary includes the total playtime along with the number of thumbs-up and thumbs-down reactions, clearly indicating the community's feedback
Playtime:
8017 minutes
This is a good game mostly because mods like RICO make it bearable but it's also unstable when modded and very cpu/gpu intensive, but dang this game is addicting.
The amount of content locked behind DLC is incredibly annoying though.
You should buy the sequel instead.
👍 : 7 |
😃 : 0
Positive
Playtime:
2871 minutes
"Cities: Skylines" is a highly acclaimed city-building simulation game that offers players a robust and immersive experience in urban planning and development. Launched in 2015, the game allows you to create and manage your own city, from the ground up, giving you the freedom to design intricate road networks, zoning areas for residential, commercial, and industrial use, and developing public services like schools, hospitals, and transportation systems.
One of the standout features of "Cities: Skylines" is its deep simulation mechanics. The game intricately models the needs and behaviour of citizens, which means you must carefully balance factors such as traffic flow, pollution, traffic congestion, and the economy to ensure your city's growth and sustainability. This attention to detail adds a layer of complexity that appeals to both casual players and hardcore simulators alike.
The game excels in its modding community, offering extensive support for user-generated content. Players can download and share an array of mods, which can enhance gameplay or add new features, from custom buildings and vehicles to entirely new gameplay mechanics. This has significantly extended the game’s longevity, as dedicated modders continuously create fresh content that keeps the experience engaging and customisation.
The graphics and visual design are also noteworthy, providing a vibrant and detailed city-scape that evolves as you build your metropolis. You can zoom in to street level to observe the daily life of your citizens and see how your decisions impact their happiness and productivity. Alternatively, you can pull back to get a grand view of your sprawling city, showcasing your planning and design skills.
Furthermore, "Cities: Skylines" has received numerous expansions and downloadable content (DLC) packs that introduce new gameplay elements, such as natural disasters, new city policies, and even international diplomacy, further enriching the game experience. Each expansion adds unique mechanics and challenges, ensuring that players always have fresh content to explore.
Overall, "Cities: Skylines" stands out as a great city builder due to its depth, flexibility, and community engagement. Whether you're a city-building veteran or a newcomer to the genre, the game offers hours of engaging gameplay, making it a must-play for anyone interested in crafting their own urban environments.
👍 : 3 |
😃 : 0
Positive
Playtime:
31134 minutes
This game i really love, it can be very complex but also very fun if you take your time! to see your city successful! i highly recommend this game!
👍 : 3 |
😃 : 0
Positive
Playtime:
1701 minutes
Fun game. I do find the way the game levels up frustrating; you can't even build a high school until your population hits 7,000 and once I hit that milestone it felt like a thousand features were unlocked at once. I wish the features were unlocked more gradually. I'm still enjoying it though.
👍 : 2 |
😃 : 0
Positive
Playtime:
14367 minutes
The game is such a cool concept, but whoever coded the traffic is just completely moronic. You can truly build how you want your city to be. You are a slave to the stupid code and must build around it. Ruins any aspect of fun and design that would make this an interesting game that dosent make you want to pull your hair out.
👍 : 4 |
😃 : 1
Negative
Playtime:
568 minutes
It's a great simulator of building a city and managing it. It is hard enough to understand for a beginner, but those who will understand it will probably be easy but definitely interesting. I often played simCity 4000 as a kid, remember this game? This is similar and much better. I generally do not wish that I bought this game
👍 : 2 |
😃 : 0
Positive
Playtime:
86 minutes
I just can't recommend any game that has over $400 of DLC. Which is unfortunately the common theme for games published by Paradox, and it is a practice that should be discouraged. Now, many of the available DLC's here are only audio, but there is still over $200 of game content locked behind premium DLC. And premium is a key word here because it feels like you're always paying a premium for your return. For instance, $5.99 is what it takes to get some re-skins of buildings (not new ways to play, just new art design), and that doesn't even get you all of the re-skins. There are over 20 such, similarly priced, DLC add-ons that do nothing other than add a bit of variety to your city's aesthetics. Which is an important thing to consider because the base game does end up looking a bit bland. This does not even comment on some of the other "premium" offerings that are pretty shallow for the asking price.
To its credit, this game is a good city builder with a lot of depth. I just don't think that it is worth the price even during one of the heavy discount periods that often come up.
👍 : 35 |
😃 : 3
Negative
Playtime:
2692 minutes
expectation:
build the dream city you wanna live.
reality:
learning actual road hierarchy.
learning how to balance tax and budget so i wont go bankrupt.
learning where to place hospital, police station, fire station, and school so my citizens will be able to use it 100%.
build the dream city you wanna live.
👍 : 14 |
😃 : 0
Positive
Playtime:
3595 minutes
By far my favorite city builder, and much better than the sequel!
However, a lot of the DLC should just be included in the base game... paying 200$ just for DLC on top of the entry fee is just ridiculous... otherwise a great game tho!
👍 : 10 |
😃 : 0
Positive
Playtime:
31421 minutes
After 532 hours of meticulously laying roads, zoning districts, and perfecting public transit routes, I can safely say that Cities: Skylines is a city-building masterpiece that deserves every second of your time. The level of detail and control you have over the growth and management of your city is both addicting and rewarding. Each decision from budget allocations to traffic flow is crucial to maintaining a thriving metropolis that feels genuinely alive. The base game already offers an extensive toolkit, but the robust modding community truly takes things to the next level with endless possibilities for customization. If you love city builders or simulation games, Cities: Skylines is absolutely worth playing. My 532 hours in-game and counting should speak for themselves.
👍 : 28 |
😃 : 0
Positive