Scenarios are playable maps created withinCities: Skylines, each with a distinctive set of challenges that must be completed within a certain time frame. Make no mistake, these scenarios are not simply tutorial levels but also include difficult storylines that require your expertise as a city planner to rectify.

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Since these scenarios were introduced with the Disasters, Green Cities, and Mass Transit DLCs, you must have each downloaded before you can partake in these challenging circumstances. If you are curious about which scenario will test your expertise as a city builder, then look no further.

Population must be over 50,000

An image from Cities: Skylines of multiple Wind Turbines during the Green Power scenario, which requires you to power a city without using any polluting industries.

Electricity production of 500 MW

100% of electricity production from renewable sources

An image from Cities: Skylines of the Clean Up Crew scenario which requires you to remedy a pollution problem before the water supply gets infected.

The Green Power scenario is a great way to familiarize yourself with the new forms of nonpolluting electricity introduced with the Green Cities DLC. Specifically, you finish this scenario after creating a thriving city completely powered by renewable energy.

Specifically, you’ll want to immediately construct some wind turbines right as this scenario starts since you may instantly lose if all of your civilians move out due to the lack of power. Sadly, while this scenario is great for teaching you everything you need to know about the Green Cities pack, there are much more challenging and rewarding scenarios on this list.

An image from Cities: Skylines of the Trains scenario, which requires you to build a large amount of train lines throughout your city.

Population must be over 75,000

Average drinking water pollution under 1%

An image of the Cities: Skylines Fix The Traffic Scenario, which drops you into a fully built city that is riddled with intense traffic problems.

Average citizen health over 85%

The Clean Up Crew scenario presents you with a small town on the brink of complete disaster. Specifically, the sewage is dumped right next to the freshwater source, meaning that all the town’s civilians are at risk ofbecoming incredibly sick or even dying.

An image of the three small towns from the Alpine Village scenario in Cities: Skylines. These three towns sit on top of mountains and are connected by public transport.

Generally, this is a great scenario because it forces you to work quickly under pressure while reinforcing some of the core gameplay mechanics surrounding pollution. Finally, since this was included with the Green Cities DLC, you can make quick use of the new technologies included with the pack to repair the environment expeditiously.

Construct 210 instances of Train Tracks

An image of a dam holding back water in Cities: Skylines

Transport 200,000 people using trains

The Trains scenario is unique because it starts youon a completely empty map.To conclude this storyline, you must construct a city and then transport thousands of your civilians by using complex train networks.

An image of the Floodland Scenario from Cities: Skylines, which features a town at risk of being destroyed by rising water.

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Furthermore, you’re able to earn a surplus of money by constructing every type of industrial zone and connecting them with passenger and cargo trains. Ultimately, this scenario may not be the most interesting storyline since you are essentially playing the sandbox version of the game, only with a heightened interest in trains.

Traffic flow over 82%

An image of the island hopping scenario from Cities: Skylines, which requires you to build massive cities on very small masses of land.

Must have over 35,000 population

If you get easily overwhelmed by massive traffic jams and convoluted road networks, this scenario may not be the one for you. This storyline places you in the center of a fully-fledged city, severely struggling with traffic problems.

To complete this scenario efficiently, you should put your city planning skills to the test and completely demolish the existing road networks. Furthermore, if you find yourself challenged by the flow of traffic during this scenario, you’re able to always look up real-world traffic interchanges and attempt to recreate them within the game.

Scenario Completion Requirements

500,000 people must be transported using public transport

The Alpine Village scenario tasks you with creating an ample public transport system. However, you’ll be planning this city on top of three separate areas of land. Specifically, there is a river that bisects the entire map, creating three distinctive pods of commercial, industrial, and residential zoning.

A great way to complete this scenario is by connecting the three different areas with public transport since your civilians will be forced to utilize this form of transport to get to work. This will allow you to quickly achieve the maximum number of transported civilians while familiarizing yourself with theplethora of public transportavailable in the game.

Population must be over 65,000

The By The Dam scenario is one of the few with predetermined disasters that will strike when you reach certain milestones. Specifically, you will be placed into a storyline that features a town sitting underneath a large dam, putting your civilians at risk of a major flood.

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As your population increases, five meteor strikes of varying severity will randomly blow up pieces of your city. To survive this scenario, you must consistently grow your population and take steps to prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario.

Furthermore, keep in mind that your time is valuable within this scenario because you need to hit the population limit before 300 in-game weeks are complete.

Play 240 game weeks

Unlike the By The Dam scenario, the Floodland storyline requires you to survive for a specified time period to complete the scenario. You’ll be placed directly into the action, with a city right on the edge of the water with only a small cliff separating your civilians from a wall of water.

As you progress through the scenario, there will be multiple instances where the water level rises, crushing important buildings within your city. To complete this scenario, we recommend consistently moving your town further away from the flood zone, so you can wait out the in-game weeks.

Must have over 250,000 population

Average health over 20%

Although the Island Hopping scenario is only rated at medium difficulty, this tropical storyline is widely regarded as the most challenging scenario in the entire franchise. Specifically, the map of this storyline is roughly 80 percent water, with the only habitable land consisting of smaller islands.

If you want to pass this scenario, you will have to construct a city that holds 250,000 residents, which can be difficult even on normal maps. To complete this scenario, we recommend seriously investing in high-density housing and connecting all of your islands with competent public transport.

Ultimately, if you can construct designated islands for residential and industry, then you will be able to slowly complete this challenging storyline.