Planet Coaster is published and developed by Frontier Developments plc and offers a great range of challenges to suit any player. From managing the funds of an amusement park to keeping staff and visitors happy, it will also cater to the players that like to just create without limits in the sandbox mode, where you’ll be able to build anything your heart desires and money is not a problem.

Other than just placing rides, there is a wide range of scenery items that can be used to decorate the park and these will boost the happiness of the park visitors, while stores can be placed around the park to offer food and drinks and bring in some extra money.

There is a management page that shows the stats of staff happiness and feedback from visitors, so while playing the challenging missions that the game holds, staff members can quit if they are not happy with the job, so keeping an eye on the status of each member is important, as you don’t want to lose any cleaners, ride maintenance staff, or the entertainers that will walk around the park performing for visitors.

Visitors can leave reviews and feedback on their visit to the park and this can have suggestions or feedback such as rides being too expensive, lack of seating, and stalls to visit, so keep the customers happy to keep the money rolling in. The Vintage DLC adds two brand new roller coasters, five rides, and over 230 scenery pieces, while the World Fair DLC features two new coasters, one ride, and multicultural scenery that offers a taste of the world for visitors, from iconic American diners to Mediterranean markets.

Planet Coaster plays very well when using a controller as it keeps things simple, but there are a few options that will require holding down a trigger and then doing a button input such as fast-forwarding and pausing the clock. The graphics for Planet Coaster are bright and vibrant, and being able to zoom in to see the faces of the visitors and their emotions is great. You can also go first-person while testing the rides, so it gives the feeling of being on a massive roller coaster and taking in the surrounding sights of the theme park.

There are many regions to pick from to build a park on, from a city to arctic terrain. The empty lot is nothing much to look at, but after putting in the time to build up a park, especially if you keep a theme to match the surrounding terrain, then it can be such a great sight to see and experience. My personal preference was building a pirate-themed park in the coastal region. The Kraken attack scenery is so impressive.

The audio for Planet Coaster has a nice soothing soundtrack to keep players happy and relaxed while spending time building and managing a park. Even when riding on a coaster the sounds are so accurate, from the wheels hitting the tracks to the riders yelling and screaming in enjoyment. The small amount of voice acting comes from advice-givers that are very helpful. They will guide players with what to do in terms of building new rides, clearing empty lots, and helping with how to manage staff members.

A new feature for the console version is the Frontier-Workshop, which is a new sharing platform that has been built from scratch for the console, allowing you to share parks with the community and friends. I don’t usually play these types of games so it was a bumpy start for me, but I did get a hang of it while messing around in the sandbox mode, taking inspiration from amusement parks that I have been to. I am thankful the tutorial covered all the basics, as it helped me feel more comfortable on where you start and learn how to do some of the more advanced features.

As fun as Planet Coaster is, I can only imagine how much fun it would be being able to craft a park with a friend, either online or local multiplayer, being able to split roles would’ve been a nice feature to do. I look forward to seeing what other DLC’s will be added, as well as what they will bring with them. That being said, with the community sharing feature allowing you to check out other creations, there is so much to do.

Written by: Shane Walsh