Cities: Skylines - Snowfall
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Cities: Skylines - Snowfall
With more pronounced effects than the first expansion, Snowfall adds new challenges and complexity.
With the addition of Snowfall on top of the After Dark expansion released last fall, Cities: Skylines is starting to take shape as an expansive city-building franchise that offers something for any wannabe mayor. One caveat here is that you don't really get a tremendous amount of content, and that what's present is pretty much relegated in specific maps, leaving the impact of this expansion on the overall game fairly minimal. That said, the winter wonderland atmosphere does freshen up the visuals so even while this expansion is not essential, spending a little time in a virtual snow globe city remains awfully appealing.
Cities: Skylines just keeps getting better. Thanks to lots of dedicated fans and modders, and the official After Dark and Snowfall expansions, the game offers endless fun and creativity. For the price, Snowfall's content is right on the border of being a just little thin and non-essential, especially if you don't really care about adding trams or transportation hubs, but the snow effects are nice and I will be happy to have added them come August when I'm sweltering in late summer heat.
Snowfall is a generally well executed if rather mistimed expansion to Cities: Skylines, allowing you to build expansive cryogenic creations but unfortunately doesn't go far enough in terms of providing a wintertide chill to truly remember.
That's what is really at the core of the discussion on Snowfall—not simply if it added enough, but if it added enough for its asking price. At $13 on Steam right now, Snowfall is a difficult case to make for bang-for-your-buck, even while recognizing the amount of work I'm sure went into this expansion. Still, I'm left with a positive takeaway because Colossal Order never seems content with its already-enormous amount of moving parts. They continue to add more factors and more elements if only to show that they can juggle as many objects as you want to throw in their path. It's truly an impressive circus act, both playing and developing Skylines, and Snowfall is yet another example of Colossal Order flexing its muscles.
Winter can be miserable, but Snowfall is a worthwhile addition to the finest city builder available.
Every addition that Snowfall makes is fun and adds a bit of variety to your city-building. But those additions are few, and even the more sweeping systems like road condition and heating don't add any long-term strategic considerations to the game. Even the new winter cities are a mostly visual change. It's tough to recommend dropping money on such an insubstantial expansion.
