Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order today announced the next major expansion hitting Cities: Skylines – titled, ‘Parklife’. As the name suggests, the expansion adds quite a few tools and features related to parks and recreational activities, but it also introduces a feature that players have been requesting ever since the game first came out: zonable park districts.
The feature works as simply as one would imagine; the expansion makes it possible for players to designate empty land as a park. Once an area is designated, players can build paths and plop not only buildings but also various other props and assets along those paths. There’s also the inclusion of new buildings with things like amusement parks, nature reserves, new city parks, and zoos.
In order to maintain these parks, there’s a new ‘Park Maintenance’ city service which, if properly funded, will boost citizen happiness and make parks more effective.
The expansion also adds a new tool that would let players fill the empty space between buildings with parks and gardens, though how this tool works wasn’t detailed in the announcement.
As for recreational activities, the expansion allows players to create custom sightseeing bus lines and walking sightseeing tours with the ability to set custom prices for them as well. There are also three new city policies and eight park district policies dealing with recreational hazards such as fireworks and animal ethics.
Paradox Interactive also announced a new bundle titled ‘Parklife Plus’ that includes the Parklife expansion, but also introduces a new radio station to the game, titled Country Road Radio. Here’s how the station is described:
The radio host is pure Dixieland Delight, spinning six instrumental tracks and ten songs with original vocals covering Appalachian Folk, Bluegrass/Honky Tonk, Nashville Modern Country and Unplugged country.
There is quite a lot that will come free with an update that will launch alongside the expansion for the PC version as well, including things like a new tourism panel, new trees that reduce noise pollution, an upgrade to the camera mode as well as the ability to control the camera with scripts, and new modding features.
Cities: Skylines – Parklife expansion will cost $14.99 when it launches on May 24, but Paradox is offering a 10% discount for those who preorder, dropping its price to $13.49. The Parklife Plus bundle which includes Parklife expansion and Country Road Radio station costs $17.99, and is discounted to $16.19 for preorders. They are available for purchase via Paradox Plaza as well as Steam.
At the moment, the expansion is only announced for Windows, macOS, and Linux, with those on the console versions – or the Windows 10 Edition – still waiting for previous major expansions.