DECEMBER 2020 PCWorld 10716.clone. Everything, down to the color-coded
zoning, is vintage SimCity—but so much
better (go.pcworld.com/mbtr). Cities:
Skylines supported absolutely massive cities,
with dozens of different buildings right out
the gate, dynamic water that reacted to canals
and dams and pollution, and all the
transportation and traffic simulations
developed for Cities in Motion.
And not only has Colossal Order supported
the game for five years now—adding parks,
universities, concerts, a day/night cycle, and
more—but the aforementioned mod support
turned Cities: Skylines into the ultimate city
builder. If you live in a city, chances are the
community’s created most of the major
landmarks. Even generic Americana, the Targets
and Taco Bells of the United States suburbs, are
available for import. You can uncap the
limitations on city size, enhance the default
landscaping tools, build better parking lots and
pedestrian paths, and so much more.
Cities: Skylines is more proof that catering
to modders is great for a game’s longevity.
SimCity died in part because EA tried to sell
new buildings to people who already felt
limited by the default tools. Cities: Skylines
focused more on adding new features, with
modders adding more buildings (and more
unique landmarks) than a dedicated art team
could ever manage alone. I suspect I’ll be
playing it for years to come, at least until
Colossal Order decides to make a sequel.
A quick shout-out to Planet Coaster (go.
pcworld.com/pcst) and Planet Zoo (go.
pcworld.com/pzoo) as well, which took the
same mod-friendly path to success with
excellent results.- BABA IS YOU
This is the fourth or fifth time I’ve
written about Baba Is You (go.
pcworld.com/babu) and it never
gets easier. Baba Is You is so
simple to play, and yet
incomprehensible otherwise. It’s
a puzzle game where the rules
are written directly into the
environment, i.e. “BABA IS
YOU.” You can push these
blocks of text around though,
rewriting the rules to find a
solution.