Originally called the much less
inspiring Coaster Park Tycoon,
Frontier invites users to “be the
boss…as you create, manage
and share the world’s greatest
coaster parks”. It is a game that is
designed to not only appeal to the
die-hard fans of the Rollercoaster
Tycoon series, but to appeal to
everyone: the game is incredibly
simple on the surface, but offers
an incredible amount of complex
micromanagement for those that
want it.
what to build. Plop down walls, roofs
and shops at will, provided you have
the cash, creating unique buildings
out of hundreds of different pieces.
Don’t like where something is?
That’s fine, you can just pick up
a building and pop it back down
elsewhere. Paths are also more
powerful in Planet Coaster, blowing
the path system from old games
like Rollercoaster Tycoon out of the
water, allowing you to customise
path widths, and also to curve and
elevate paths however you please.
The world revolves around money,
and Planet Coaster is no exception.
As is the norm in coaster games,
every guest enters your park with
a set amount of money, but they
can choose to take out more money
from an ATM in your park as their
wallets start to get a bit lighter.
The game doesn’t work with blocks
of characters: every guest in your
park is simulated and rendered. If
you manage to coax three hundred
people into your park, every single
one of them will be simulated, with
their own bank accounts, thoughts,
and look. It’s charming, immersive,
and also very impressive. It all comes
down to making as much money
from your guests as possible.
Frontier invites
you to “be the
boss...as you
create, manage
and share the
world’s greatest
coaster parks.”
But Planet Coaster doesn’t
disappoint those with a more
creative side, either. With the game
comes a modular building system
which, whilst fiddly at times, gives
the user infinite possibilities as to
30 simnation.tv/smagazine