Planet Coaster Review – Breathes New Life into an Established Genre

The theme park game genre has been around for a couple decades now and includes such games as Thrillville and the Roller Coaster Tycoon series. So why would Frontier want to jump into this established genre you ask? Well, the fact is many of the team members that developed Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 are now working at Frontier and bringing their expertise to this new project. Their insight, I believe, is one area that has helped Planet Coaster become the new “go to game” for theme park simulation.

Planet Coaster is comprised of three main parts: Career, Sandbox, and Challenges. The Career and Challenges modes offer the player a fixed set of guidelines to construct their park. Whether it’s reaching a certain number of guests, rides, or finances, you have to work within the framework provided. Sandbox, on the other hand is exactly what you might think. Options in the game are only limited by your imagination. Here you have all buildings, scenery and coasters unlocked as well as unlimited resources to develop the theme park you desire. This freedom is a double-edged sword. If you have a creative mind, a sandbox mode is a dream come true. However, if you are more like me, you stare at the blank canvas before you and think…What now? Frontier understands this and they have integrated Planet Coaster with the Steam Workshop. Here you can upload your creations for others to use or download other’s masterpieces to place into your park.  The Steam Workshop is by far one of the best features of Planet Coaster.

Final thoughts on the Planet Coaster video game:

Planet Coaster brings fresh air into an aging genre with superb graphics and overall great game play. The controls are a little awkward at times, but you do eventually get used to them and begin to navigate with ease. The integration with Steam Workshop is the selling point for me. The amount of quality buildings and coasters available to download is immense and continues to grow. There is some competition for Planet Coaster with Roller Coaster Tycoon World and Parkitect, but in my opinion, they do not compare to the overall value provided by Planet Coaster. If you’ve ever had a thought about designing your own theme park, do yourself a favor and pick up Planet Coaster today. It’s available on Steam for $44.99 and worth every penny!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4lepr15Cps