To hit or not to hit, that is (sometimes) the question here. With Cities Skylines, however, players and the press agree, as is rare, that it is a very strong development game. And now you can get it in the Epic Store! You pull up pulsating metropolises, regulate the traffic and (if you are good) watch your mountains of money grow.
How long is the game free? The free promotion runs from March 10th to March 17th, 2022 at 17:00. If you grab Cities Skylines for free during this period, you can call it your own permanently. However, an account with Epic Games is required.
What’s in it? Epic is giving away Cities Skylines in the basic version, i.e. without the dozens of addons and extensions that have now been added. Interested parties can buy the DLCs in the Epic Store if they wish.
Is that something for you? As every week, we will introduce you to the new free game in more detail and also clarify which type of player should keep an eye on it.
On the other hand, if you want an up-to-date look at where things are at, here’s our fresh 2022 Cities Skylines night test. By the way, with a well-deserved upgrade directly to the construction Olympus:
Cities skylines in the night test
2022 is even better
That’s what Cities Skylines is all about
Even in its basic version, Cities Skylines offers hundreds of hours of fun for strategists who love to build. Similar to Sim City, you build a whole city from scratch. Residential districts, commercial and industrial areas want to be coordinated in a meaningful way.
For example, factories pollute the air, which is why they should not be located near a residential area. And enough commercial areas are not only important to enable your residents to shop, but also flush a lot of taxes into your coffers.
Traffic planning is becoming a particular challenge in your growing metropolis. Cities Skylines offers many tools to map the entire spectrum of modern traffic, from city streets to country roads to fast highways. In addition, you ideally provide bus routes to take the sting out of rush hour traffic and avoid traffic jams.
The whole thing becomes very, very complex, especially later in the game. Anyone who knows our Stellaris High Priest Michael Graf can appreciate how demanding Cities Skylines must be:
PLUS
15:31
800 hours later, Micha loves Cities: Skylines more than Stellaris
Suitable for whom?
Most building strategy fans should know Cities Skylines – or have already sunk several hours into it. If you are still unfamiliar with the subgenre of city building simulations, the gift is also worth it. After all, there is currently no better game in the city sim genre than Cities Skylines.
However, you have to put up with a rather steep learning curve when you start the game from scratch. There are subtle tips for beginners, but your city quickly becomes very confusing and the tightly meshed mechanics are only too happy to punish construction errors. But for many passionate construction heroes, taking an entry hurdle should simply be part of the genre.
get interested? Here’s the gift campaign at Epic:
For download
However, if you can’t live with digging through a bunch of DLCs to buy the gaming experience that suits you, Cities Skylines could get on your nerves. After all, there are a whopping 38 additional content. But the free game is of course still suitable for trying out.
