Highlights
Cities: Skylines 2 has significantly increased the size of playable tiles, allowing players to construct much larger cities without the need for mods.
The game now presents 441 map tiles, granting players unlimited possibilities to construct their desired city size with absolute freedom.
However, players should exercise caution regarding performance issues, as larger cities might decelerate the game's speed and even lead to crashes. It is advised to have a powerful computer for optimal gameplay experience.
Despite its greatness as a city builder, Cities: Skylines always felt somewhat limiting in terms of size. Without mods, players were confined to a mere 10 tiles, which filled up quickly. Though not as small as SimCity 2013's cities, it often proved to be a hindrance, prompting players to download mods for a change. Fortunately, it appears that Colossal Order took note of these complaints as Cities: Skylines 2 now offers a substantially larger size.
While the tiles in Cities: Skylines 2 may be smaller, players have the ability to purchase hundreds of them throughout their city-building journey. This means that they can now create massive cities within the base game, eliminating the need for any additional mods. Despite potential performance issues, the increase in size is a fantastic new addition that adds considerable value to this sequel. Moreover, future mods are likely to offer further enhancements.
Cities: Skylines 2's Cities Can Be Massive
In Cities: Skylines 2, players begin with a smaller tile than the original game. However, the number of playable tiles has significantly increased, allowing for larger and more expansive cities. Players now have access to a total of 441 map tiles, compared to the previous limit of 10. This means that cities can be constructed to be five times bigger than before, with the potential for even further expansion through mods.
With this significant size expansion, players of Cities: Skylines 2 now have endless possibilities to construct cities of any scale they desire. While some may quickly occupy the entire playable area, many others may never come close to filling it unless they deliberately try. This ensures that the enjoyment never ends, regardless of how many players are building, which is precisely what a city builder game requires.
While this size increase is a remarkable improvement over the previous version, players should exercise caution not to overwhelm their computers. Currently, Cities: Skylines 2 is plagued by numerous performance issues. As cities expand, the game's performance will further diminish, potentially leading to frequent crashes. Therefore, players must ensure that their computers are sufficiently powerful to handle these sprawling metropolises before utilizing every available tile. Although it may take some time before the game reaches its breaking point, players might consider saving their progress frequently as they construct their dream cities.
Many players were expecting Colossal Order to expand the city size in Cities: Skylines 2, but the extent of the enlargement surpassed their imagination. Now, players can finally construct these colossal cities without the fear of encountering any limitations. This enhances the freeform city-building experience and will be further enhanced with post-launch DLC. The studio's forthcoming updates should also address the performance issues, ensuring that players truly have no boundaries.
Cities: Skylines 2
Cities: Skylines 2, developed by Colossal Order and published by Paradox Interactive, expands upon the success of its predecessor released in 2015. With a focus on realism, this city-building simulation game provides players with a rich economic system and a dynamic world shaped by their choices and creative endeavors. It is available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S, and was released on October 24, 2023.