Cities in Motion

I'm conflicted with Cities in Motion. The lack of feedback, in-game competition, and unpredictability hurt the game's long-term draw; some older business simulations didn't have these problems. Cities in Motion does feature stellar tools and is one of the prettier business simulations on the market. If you enjoy business sims, and if you have the patience to experiment and tinker with the game's systems, you'll definitely want to give Cities in Motion a try.

But with that said, the game does what it does very well, especially when you consider how much of a simulation you get for the low $20 price. Even municipal experts would be hard pressed to tell the difference between real cities and the virtual ones here because of the realistic traffic patterns and commuter demands. If you long to make the trains run on time, this is your game.

The scripted quests are well-written, but the fixed map incentives don't work as well as, say, random new factories in unlikely locations would. A transitory pleasure that polishes up nice. But it lacks variety and competition, and is just a little bit too difficult.