ItвЂ™s like the best aspects of The Sims mashed up with theme parks.ДЄnd the result is one of the most customizable builder games IвЂ™ve ever played. The walls, the roof, the decorations, theyвЂ™re all under your control. Or make some sort of hybrid pirate-castle monstrosity that combines aspects of both. Or turn it into a castle and surround it by patrolling knights. Need a burger place that matches the Pirate aesthetic of your park? Plop the storefront down and then cover it in wood, a crowвЂ™s nest, and some netting. You know, the set dressing-benches and garbage cans to keep the guests happy, animatronic krakens and witches and alien creatures to keep them entertained. Aspects from older theme park tycoon games reappear-yes, you can still drop the price of drinks and then rake in cash by charging for the bathrooms.Д«ut itвЂ™s the eye-candy thatвЂ™s received the biggest upgrade, or вЂњSceneryвЂќ as itвЂ™s known to industrious theme park managers. Planet Coaster plays to that instinct, to the urge to customize and tinker.

Sure, you can play SimCity or Cities: Skylines as an accurate simulation of urban planning, but I think most people just find it innately satisfying to create, to build up their own personal little utopia (or dystopia) from scratch.

ThatвЂ™s the whole point of the вЂњBuilderвЂќ genre, right? You give players a bunch of tools-be it roads and buildings or, here, paths and rides-and turn them loose. The even-shorter version: Despite the change in name, Planet Coaster is the true successor to the beloved RollerCoaster Tycoon. For now, suffice it to say that while RollerCoaster Tycoon World has a few advantages on Planet Coaster, itвЂ™s dragged down by poor performance, a cumbersome interface, and features that were clearly tacked on later to bring it up to parity with Planet Coaster instead of planned from the start. Maybe one day soon weвЂ™ll delve into RollerCoaster Tycoon World and its fractured development. The other was RollerCoaster Tycoon World ($35 on Steam),В which I donвЂ™t think is quite as bad as the reputation itвЂ™s racked up on Steam but does seem to have been rushed out the door in some weird attempt to вЂњbeatвЂќ Planet Coaster to the punch.

Technically there were two different theme park builders released last week- Planet Coaster, our main concern for this review, being one. ThereвЂ™s an easy way to judge вЂњBuilderвЂќ-style games, I think-maybe not the most scientific way, but certainly a gut-level instinct: Was there a moment while playing where I looked up to find that it was 4 in the morning and I should probably have gone to sleep hours ago?ДЄnd if weвЂ™re judging Planet Coaster on that criteria, then itвЂ™s a stunning success.

Planet coaster steam price