It’s amazing to think that Finnish developer Collosal Order had just 13 employees when it created Cities: Skylines, a game that has now completely surpassed the mighty SimCity to become the premier city-building game. Even 8 years after its initial release, the game is still popular thanks to a huge selection of DLCs, great crafting tools, and a vibrant modding community.
Determining which cards are the best really depends on what you mean by “best”. The easiest? More difficult ? The most balanced? More beautiful? The most unique? This list includes a bit of everything, with a seamless mix of maps from the base game and DLC (for PC and console players), and the huge selection of maps available on the Steam Workshop (for PC players only).
10. Barren Plains (Mass Transit DLC)
Image via Interactive Paradox
This flat and simple map is a good choice for beginners. It has a narrow, straight river running through the starting square, is easy to build, and doesn’t take up much space. There is also a good balance of resources here, although you want to expand south along the river to reach the oil fields and establish your ports.
The most unique feature of the map is that it has four distinct train connections. This is because the same card is used in “Trains!” scenario, in which your mission is to build railway networks for passengers and freight.
9. Redwood River by MrMyagi (Steam Workshop)
Image via MrMyagi
The creator of this map, MrMyagi, actually put this map aside after he created it because he thought no one would want to build a city on it. But eventually he posted it on the Steam Workshop, and it became one of the most popular Cities: Skylines maps of all time.
The intricate, interlocking river design, inspired by Lord of the Rings filming locations, means this isn’t an ideal card for beginners, who may struggle to develop. But fans of the map find it ideal for creating a “shire”, with quaint little settlements dotted along its rivers, forests, and mountains.
8. Blue Gulf (Sunset Harbor DLC)
Image via Interactive Paradox
Of all the maps on which to build a coastal paradise, Azure Gulf is the best. It has a well formed coastline and many rivers, beaches and islands to work on. Thanks to the abundance of water, it can be difficult to build transportation infrastructure here that doesn’t bog down bridges.
Unsurprisingly, by far the most abundant resource is water. There is also a lot of forest, but it is not as generous with other types of resources. There are pockets of each scattered across the map, but you’ll need to think carefully about how to separate your specialist industries from your residential districts.
7. The Colossal Hill of Owl por Owl (Steam Workshop)
Image via owl
Owl is so beloved within the Cities: Skylines community that it puts its name in its map titles as a “selling point”. It’s the most popular of their cards, and it’s an absolute beauty.
Not so much a hill as a coastal plain framed by mountains, The Colossal Hillside is packed with gorgeous detail. Not the easiest map for beginners, but playable enough. The only possible downside is that it’s quite old now and therefore doesn’t take advantage of some of the new features and mods that make the game better and faster.
6. Lavender Lake (Green Cities DLC)
Image via Interactive Paradox
This popular map is designed to tempt you with a wealth of natural resources while challenging you not to waste them. Your first challenge is to avoid ruining the lake.
The lake is the only body of water that overlaps the starter box, so you’ll either have to temporarily dump sewage into it (while supplying water to the water towers), or send the sewage elsewhere (which doesn’t). is generally not recommended). Either way, your first priority should be to expand your town west, so you can drain the sewage into the river.
5. Improved Delta ranking by blackwiddow (Steam Workshop)
Image via Black Widow
This map is the result of the hard work of two creators in the community. The original Delta range was designed by Svampan (now called (OC)Miley’), and was a firm favorite of fellow creator, blackwiddow, who felt there were many improvements that could be made.
The community was all on board with the improvements in blackwiddow and the improved version has now far surpassed the popularity of the original map. The key to its popularity is that it has interesting, bumpy and beautiful terrain, but it’s not difficult to build and expand thanks to a carefully thought-out tile grid, which ensures that every tile has a bit of everything.
4. Green Plains (base game)
Gamepur screenshot
This map has a pre-built route plaza around the starting plaza, which will come in handy later in the game and save you the effort and expense of building a route loop when your ramps. Access and exit are starting to get really crowded. .
There are also three rivers within the square of the road, so water supply and sewage won’t be a problem. Despite the rivers, there is plenty of flat land to spread out on, with all resources except oil available within the square of the road. An ideal map for beginners.
3. Seventh island improved by blackwiddow (Steam Workshop)
Image via Black Widow
Another case where the prolific map enhancer, blackwiddow, took a popular map (in this case, one from EyeSketch aka 섭지디) and added lots of detail and refinement, resulting in an even better and more popular map. .
While perfectly playable, 7th Island Enhanced’s main selling point is its dramatic setting. It is a collection of beautiful islands dominated by a huge plateau, allowing you to create beautiful multi-level cities. The centerpiece of the whole map is a huge and spectacular waterfall. It really is a great map to look at, let alone play.
2. Grand River (base game)
Gamepur screenshot
Despite this map’s high build area and flat, easy-to-work terrain, it’s not such an easy map to play. But it’s interesting. Its particularity is that the starting place is bisected by the river, with a connection to the road on both sides. This presents you with an immediate conundrum: how to begin.
Like everything in Cities: Skylines, you decide. But that’s what you shouldn’t do. Whenever you decide to build a bridge over the river, don’t do it with ordinary roads. If you do this, road traffic will use your city as a main road and you will have terrible traffic jams. Instead, just connect the river to the roads, preferably as much as possible.
1. Mechalic’s Riverdale (Steam Workshop)
Image via mechanical
The most popular user-created map of them all is, like many favorite maps, inspired by the geography of New Zealand (or Middle-earth to use its more popular name). In the case of Riverdale, the inspiration comes from the pretty suburb of Auckland, Devonport.
Riverdale is a beautifully complex natural harbor with convenient transport links and a wealth of natural resources. Its creator, Mechalic, took care to keep the surrounding hills smooth and smooth, so that most of the map is buildable. It’s just a great all-purpose card.
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