Frontier Developments developed and published Planet Coaster, a construction and management simulation computer game for Microsoft Windows. It released on Windows on November 17, 2016. A console edition, Planet Coaster: Console Edition was released for Playstion 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X released on November 10, 2020. A few days later, on 12 November 2020 it was released on PS5. On November 17, 2020 Aspyr released the game for Mac OS.
Planet Coaster is a must play if you loved Roller Coaster Tycoon.
Planet Coaster is a must play if you love building games, and it’s basically required if you ever sank hours into Roller Coaster Tycoon. You build your perfect park from the ground up, designing the most insane coasters you can dream up, or grabbing a premade one if you’d rather skip straight to the screaming.
The tools go deep. You can shape just about every part of your park, from the coasters themselves down to the small themed details that make an area feel like its own world. It’s the kind of game where it’s easy to lose an afternoon decorating one corner of the park instead of actually running the place.
It isn’t just building, either. There’s a real simulation running underneath, tracking what your guests want and how happy they are. You end up juggling ticket prices, ride efficiency, and staffing to keep things profitable, and it’s very possible to tank your park rating by getting greedy with the food stall prices.
Planet Coaster Steam Workshop
One of the best parts is the Steam Workshop support. On PC you can share your own rides, scenery, and entire parks, and pull down whatever everyone else has built, so there’s a massive library of stuff you can drop in without making it yourself. I’m not sure the Workshop carries over to the Xbox or Xbox PC versions though, so if that’s your platform, don’t take my word that it’s there.
The game looks and sounds great on top of all that. The rides and attractions are detailed enough that just watching a coaster run is half the fun, and the ambient park noise really sells the theme park feeling.
Planet Coaster Scenarios and Challenges
If you don’t want to just sandbox it, there are scenarios and challenges with set objectives and restrictions. They give you something to actually aim for instead of an empty lot and unlimited money, and they add a good amount of replay value once you’ve already built your dream park.
Planet Coaster Achievements
- Welcome to Planet Coaster: Complete the tutorial
- A Star is Born: Earn a bronze star in Career mode
- Rising Star: Earn a silver star in Career mode
- Brightest Star in the Sky: Earn a gold star in Career mode
- Star Studded Career: Earn all the stars in Career mode!
- Rank 2: Achieve Career Rank 2
- Rank 3: Achieve Career Rank 3
- Rank 4: Achieve Career Rank 4
- Rank 5: Achieve Career Rank 5
- Rank 6: Achieve Career Rank 6
- Rank 7: Achieve Career Rank 7
- Rank 8: Achieve Career Rank 8
- Rank 9: Achieve Career Rank 9
- Rank 10: Achieve Career Rank 10
- Rise to the Challenge: Complete a challenge
- Challenge Experience: Complete five challenges in a single park
- Challenge Veteran: Complete ten challenges in a single park
- Money Spinner: Achieve a monthly profit of $10,000
- Loan Survivor: Repay a loan of $20,000
- Marketing Mogul: Spend $10,000 on marketing in one month
- Doing Your Homework: Complete a research project
- The Ratings Are Through the Roof!: Achieve a Park Rating of 1000
- Crashing the Party: Create a coaster crash involving 300 guests
- Salt of the Senses: Add the maximum amount of salt to your fries
- Investing in People: Train a member of staff to the highest level
- You're Hired!: Re-hire a staff member who has quit
- Scream if You Want to Go Faster!: Create a coaster that achieves 100mph
- Speed Freak: Create a coaster that achieves 150mph
- Faster than Lightning: Create a coaster that achieves 200mph
- A Head for Heights: Create a coaster with an 80m drop
- Jaw Dropping: Create a coaster with a 150m drop
- Coasting Along: Create a coaster at least 750m in length
- Don't Stop Me Now: Create a coaster at least 1500m in length
- The Ride of Your Life: Create a coaster at least 2500m in length
- Hang Time: Create a coaster with 5 moments of airtime
- Air Raising: Create a coaster with 10 moments of airtime
- Air Miles: Create a coaster with 15 moments of airtime
- You're A Winner!: Win a Go Karts race while driving the kart
