GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.
You certainly could play Cities Skylines without mods, and you probably would have a solid time with today’s premiere city builder game if you did. But the Paradox Interactive title really became the gold standard thanks in large part to its robust mod support that has allowed users to improve and add to the game in so many different ways. Cities Skylines may be great on its own, but it’s even better with mods.
It also, unfortunately, hasn’t yet fully passed the torch to its sequel, which was released in 2023 in a very messy state and still hasn’t really gotten very far into its original post-release plans even now, two years later. Cities Skylines 2 has a long way to go before it can take the crown from its much more established predecessor. Wake us when the second game gets monorails.
The problem, however, is that after almost a decade of folks making stuff, the Steam Workshop for Cities Skylines is massive, with more than 358,000 mods, maps, buildings, vehicles, props, and other stuff to sort through, and navigating all that ain’t easy. But that’s what we’re here for. Below you’ll find a selection of some of the best Cities Skylines mods to get you started on your journey.