Steam Challenge: Planet Coaster
Game: Planet Coaster
Time: 5.4 hours
Last year, I played Roller Coaster Tycoon for the first time ever. I loved it! And while I appreciated it for everything it was, I couldn’t help feel the itch of what-if. What if these mechanics were implemented into a more modern game engine?
That’s what I found in Planet Coaster.
Now, I’m not going to say that the two games are exactly alike — there are a lot of minor differences. But the feeling Planet Coaster gave me – one of building my amusement park and watching little virtual people pickpocket enjoy it — was very similar.
I’ve wanted to try it out, but the normal price deterred me. I saw it on major sale during the Steam Winter Sale ($12) and snapped it up.
What Is It?
It’s a roller coaster and amusement park building sim with tycoon elements thrown in.
The game describes itself as:
Planet Coaster® – the future of coaster park simulation games has arrived! Surprise, delight and thrill incredible crowds as you build your coaster park empire – let your imagination run wild, and share your success with the world.
Just a bit of PR speak for “amusement park tycoon game.”
I’ve read that some people had issues with performance in the past, and while I’ve not yet made a huge park, I’ve also not had issues with this game so far. I also haven’t really jumped into the coaster building aspect, but part of the amazing thing of this game is the massive creativity the players put into it.
On the lobby page, you’re greeted with avatars of Steam friends who also own the game (which is neat) as well as top Workshop creators. You can check out their cool stuff, and download it to your game if you like.
While I haven’t really played around with the Workshop yet, I really like that it’s so up front and highlighted. Similar to The Sims, when you start appealing to the creative players to make content for your game, you establish a game that can last a long(er) time.
While I’m no wiz at tycoon games, I didn’t have any problem jumping into the first scenarios, even without seeing any sort of tutorial. The game felt familiar, immediately bringing back Roller Coaster Tycoon vibes, and I got the jist of it quickly. Like any sim-building game, I did have a few issues (mostly with food stands and paths) that I had to figure out.
Also, why are there so many thieves in all of my parks? Sheesh. I could hire nothing but security and I’d never get a happy balance!
I didn’t get into building my own coaster yet, as this is generally not my favorite part of these kinds of games. So, I’ve yet to see if it’s more intuitive than Roller Coaster Tycoon was in this aspect. I know you can make some really amazing rides, but I always just had trouble making a basic functioning coaster. XD
This is a game I could totally lose hours and hours in, and I spent some time with it during my Christmas holiday. I’d love to return to it sometime, but there’s just too many games on my list right now!
Check out these themed coasters below to see how amazing and creative some of the players are!
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