Mixed(57%)
City-building freedom
Road-building tools
Creative sandbox
Community mods
Sequel improvements
Mod dependence
Ongoing updates
Learning curve
Poor optimization
Frequent crashes
Traffic AI
Expensive DLC
Many players enjoy creative city building and detailed road design, and several say updates have made the game much better. However, poor performance, crashes, and frustrating traffic AI remain common complaints. Overall, views are mixed on whether the sequel has overtaken Cities: Skylines 1, and mods and ongoing updates improve the experience but do not resolve every concern.
Positive Points
The city-building sandbox is absorbing and relaxing, with broad freedom to design road networks, neighborhoods, public transport, and cities of different sizes. Many players say it is easy to lose hours building and refining a city.Compared with the first game, players praise quality-of-life improvements such as smoother road placement, larger maps, more realistic scale, expanded zoning options, and detailed city-building tools.The graphics, building variety, and more realistic city aesthetics are appealing to many reviewers, especially when supported by community-created assets and visual mods.Many players say the game has improved substantially through updates, particularly since Iceflake Studios took over, and appreciate its continued development and community engagement.The modding community adds maps, assets, traffic tools, and other features that substantially expand customization and can improve the overall experience.Negative Points
Poor optimization is the most frequent complaint: the game can have low or unstable frame rates, stuttering, and slow simulation, especially as cities grow. Many reviewers say it demands a powerful PC, and lowering graphics settings does not always resolve the issue.Crashes and other technical problems remain common in many reports, including startup failures, freezes, corrupted or lost saves, and bugs triggered by ordinary building actions or updates.Traffic AI frequently makes illogical lane changes and route choices, causing severe congestion that can turn city planning into repeated traffic troubleshooting. Some players rely on mods to make traffic management more workable.Many reviewers feel the base game is still short on content or polish compared with Cities: Skylines 1, citing missing or underdeveloped features, limited assets, confusing systems, and reliance on mods for basic tools.Paid DLC and expansion passes are widely criticized as expensive or poor value, particularly by players who feel the base game remains incomplete and should be fixed or expanded before more paid content is sold.Some players find the tutorials and interfaces inadequate, the learning curve steep, and the simulation difficult to understand. Others feel the economy and city-management systems lack depth or do not clearly explain the results of player decisions.Mixed Points
The sequel adds useful improvements over Cities: Skylines 1, especially to road building, map scale, and quality of life, but many players still consider the original more complete, stable, or enjoyable.Updates have made the game noticeably better for many players, yet reviewers disagree about how far it has recovered: some now recommend it, while others say significant bugs, performance problems, and missing features remain.Mods provide a large variety of assets and fixes, but some players feel they are necessary to make the base game satisfying; mod compatibility, loading, and update-related problems can also cause crashes or extra troubleshooting.The game can be a rewarding, relaxing creative sandbox, but traffic problems, technical issues, and complex infrastructure management can make it frustrating or feel like a chore.Performance varies considerably by hardware and city size: some reviewers report smooth play on capable PCs, while others experience poor frame rates or crashes even on high-end systems.Common Themes
Creative city building and long, absorbing play sessions are the clearest strengths across the reviews.Performance and stability remain major concerns, especially in larger cities and on average or lower-end PCs.Unreliable traffic behavior is a recurring gameplay frustration, often requiring extensive road redesign or mods.Players frequently describe the game as improved since launch, while still debating whether it has caught up to or surpassed the more mature first game.Mod support is central to many players' experience, both as a source of customization and as a workaround for perceived base-game gaps.The amount and price of DLC are a major point of distrust, particularly when players believe core features or fixes are still missing.Updated 11/13/2026, 12:02:14 AM UTC
