Keepin' It Low Key

Generally, I like games that have intense themes--saving the galaxy from certain annihilation, thwarting an evil plot, or saving...someone...from hordes of bad guys.  However, there are other times where I just want to kickback and enjoy some relaxation in game form.  Lately I have been feeling the relaxation urge and have taken the time to explore some more casual options.  Cities:  Skylines is one of those games.

Like The Wolf Among Us, I picked up Cities:  Skylines as part of a Steam sale.  It then sat in my backlog for several months before I finally decided to give it a go.  Management games aren't usually my cup o' tea but I had heard many good things about Cities.  In the halcyon days of SimCity 2000 I managed many a city...right into the ground.  I didn't have high hopes for my city management abilities.

Cities takes many of those ideas from SimCity and vastly improves upon them.  As the city manager you have to zone your city with the staple residential, commercial, and industrial areas based upon demand.  Unlike SimCity these zones cannot simply be stacked up right next to each other.  Commercial zones produce noise pollution that your residential communities do not like.  Industrial zones produce pollution that appears as a yellowish hazy area.  A good Cities manager has to make strategic decisions about where to place these zones.  Fortunately for players there is much more freedom in how to shape and place roads and zones.  Curvy, circular cities rather than your typical right-angle grid shapes are a possibility in Cities.

Similar to SimCity, your city receives a certain amount of income based off of tax revenue produced by the population.  Your city also has specific demands for services and the more access to those services that you provide the quicker they will upgrade.  Yes, your buildings can upgrade!  It's highly rewarding to hear the bright, chirpy sound of buildings leveling up.  Much of the challenge, especially early on, comes in the form of balancing your income with your expenses.  Once you've figured out how to keep your balance in the black you can focus on other pressing issues like establishing transportation systems, creating policies, or zoning certain areas for specific activities.

A large city in Cities:  Skylines

Like all good management games Cities has enough to manage that you will constantly be absorbed in all the major and minor problems of your city.  I will admit to being horrible with the very specific managerial tasks.  Setting up taxes on specific zones would probably be beneficial but I don't like to mess with it.  One area that I have struggled with is building roads that don't turn traffic into a jammed up nightmare.  I want to build roads that lay my city out in a nice grid (the grid has been burned into my brain even though I can make roads any shape that I want) but have a tendency to place intersections too close to each other.  Then the game alerts me that my traffic is a gnarled mess.  I try to bulldoze some areas but that rarely works and just results in more chaos.  Managing aspects like maintaining space in your landfills and cemeteries can draw your attention away from expanding your city.  As your city grows issues become more difficult to manage.  Mo' population, mo' problems.

There are a number of cute features that makes Cities a delight to play.  A mock-Twitter feed shows random updates from residents of your city.  Depending on the job you're doing those "chirps" could be good or bad.  Garbage didn't get picked up?  Angry chirp!  New park in your neighborhood?  Happy chirp!  As your city grows there are specific buildings and features that can be unlocked and placed.  Those buildings can attract tourists and make your city look nicer--a stadium, an opera house, a sparkling fountain--the bigger your city the bigger the rewards.

Sometimes it's nice to take a break from the headshots and limb-lopping to enjoy a kinder, gentler game.  Cities gives players the ability to micromanage every aspect of their city or to sit back and enjoy the ride.  If you're looking for a game for simple relaxation Cities:  Skylines is a great option.  Another perk is that it is often featured in Steam sales and cam be picked up for a few bucks.  I can guarantee that those funds are well spent :)