Planet Coaster 2 preview: a game that made me miss a summer I’ve never had
As a huge fan of both theme parks and computer games, 2016’s Planet Coaster was in many ways a dream game for me. Since playing Bullfrog’s seminal game, Theme Park , back in the mid-90s, first on the Amiga and then on PC, I have been obsessed with theme park management strategy games . As you can imagine, then, the announcement earlier this year that Planet Coaster 2 was to come in late 2024 (pre-orders are now live, and it launches on November 6, 2024), made me very happy given my history with the PC game and theme park sims. For context, in Planet Coaster , I vividly remember plotting my parks on paper, then creating them in the game, dividing the map into different themes, just like the beloved theme parks I visited as a kid. Building the parks, and rides, of my dreams (and sometimes my guests’ nightmares) captured some of the magic from those magic kingdoms, but Theme Park also reminded players that these parks aren’t just for fun: they are made to create money. By pla...