Planet Coaster Review: I created an amazing park, but my staff kept quitting

SIM City, Transport Tycoon, Pizza Tycoon, A-Train, you name it, if there was a simulation for it, I played it as a kid. Which is why Planet Coaster Console Edition was pushed straight into the drive of my Xbox Series X the day it arrived.

There’s something rewarding about building something, seeing people enjoy it, and learning how to make it work financially.

As always, where available, I jumped straight into Sandbox mode here – no-one’s interested in visiting a park with one Roller Coaster and two mini rides, so, I go big, or go home. But perhaps I should keep it simple.

After a first attempt, I worked out how the controls worked and what was the basic plan. Next up, I started fresh with a plan – a cross shaped set of wide pathways, leading to acres and acres of roller coasters and rides.

A flat level ground was all I wanted, but if you like, you can change the terrain like you’re playing around in SIM City.

Plonking down a coaster is easy, and it’s your job to connect a queue pathway and exit pathway to each ride.

Add some smaller rides like carousels, bumper cars or a Ferris wheel and you’ve got something for everyone – of course, there’s also the need for food and drink sales too.

And yep, Toilets.

Adding staff is like placing them down from the hand of God, though managing them is a nightmare.

I learned to create rosters to people were working in specific areas, but still, they just kept quitting on me.

No matter what I did, bang, bang, bang they were all walking out.

Perhaps I was too big too soon, needless to say, that’s both my biggest area to learn, and my biggest frustration with the game.

As was finding the rubbish bins and benches – bloody game kept telling me I needed them but damned if I could find them. (They were in the create tool – go figure).

But in reality, this is a SIM for the hard core. This allows you to tweak working hours, ride costs, staff rosters and marketing plans. It’s the all-in-one.

If I could hire a “people manager” that would make the game more enjoyable, but as it is, I just need to learn to be better.