Free on Steam: City builder with 200K reviews gets free weekend and is 90% off
Cities: Skylines is a detailed yet approachable city-building sim that puts you in charge of creating and running your own metropolis. From road layouts and schools to healthcare, transit and environmental efforts, every choice you make shapes the daily lives of your citizens.
Players create residential, commercial and industrial zones, set up power and water systems and respond to challenges like traffic jams, pollution or housing shortages. With a detailed simulation that includes a day-night cycle, traffic flow and economic trends, the game delivers a dynamic and immersive city-building experience.
Cities: Skylines also benefits from a vibrant community. Thousands of mods, assets and maps are available through the Steam Workshop, ranging from real-world city recreations to futuristic skylines filled with towering megastructures. The developers have also released eleven DLCs, including After Dark, Snowfall and Mass Transit, each adding new features, maps and challenges to expand the game.
In-depth urban development with technical weaknesses
In a review by the German website netzpiloten.de, Cities: Skylines stood out as a deep city-building simulator with a broad range of design options and a clear structure that makes it easy to get into, even for newcomers. The review highlights the well-balanced mix of construction, budget management and infrastructure, which supports different play styles.
The main points of criticism focused on technical shortcomings. According to netzpiloten.de, Cities: Skylines isn't particularly well optimized, relying heavily on a single processor core, which can lead to performance issues – especially in large cities or when using many mods. While the complex traffic system adds to the game's replay value, it might also be overwhelming for new players.
Cities: Skylines has received strong reviews across the board. On Steam, it boasts over 200,000 user ratings with a very positive average of 92%. On Metacritic, the game holds a Metascore of 85 and a User Score of 8.7.
Free weekend followed by 90% off
If you’re curious about Cities: Skylines, now could be a great time to give it a try. From March 21 to 23, the city-building game is free to play on Steam. And if you enjoy it, you can grab it at a steep discount – until March 31, it’s 90% off, bringing the price down to just around $3 instead of $28.
Disclaimer: Notebookcheck is not responsible for price changes carried out by retailers. The discounted price or deal mentioned in this item was available at the time of writing and may be subject to time restrictions and/or limited unit availability.
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