New Planet Coaster 2 in-depth review explains why you should sell sunscreen to your stupid guests if they blame you for the sun's existence

Having a list of Suffolk amusement park mascots due to an innate desire for revenge is, I suspect, not a universal experience. Still, the day Pleasurewood Hills mascot Woody Bear is taken by the ground, I will be jumping and screaming under the moon. I don't actually remember when the beef started, but my mother reliably told me that I was scared to tears by this bear as a child. He's still alive, but mark my words: When the Woody Copters finally fall off their rusty hinges, I will salt the ground.

Thankfully, I didn't see any bear mascots in Planet Coaster 2's new deep dive trailer.


The big ticket (breathtaking!) new feature in the sequel to 2016's theme park management game is water parks, peaceful creatures that can co-exist with your more traditional theme parks. You'll have the expected extensive toolset to build your slides. Like the coasters in the original, actually playing with this risks giving your guests nausea, so you'll need to balance your Daedalusian tube-conceit with at least some consideration for their preferences.

Lifeguards are a new type of staff, and you’ll be able to assign them to specific pools and areas. But you can’t run a park with a perfect safety record, so you can use inflatable vendors, ticket booths, and other cash siphons to cash in on every aspect of your guests’ vacation. Has anyone ever done an expansion to one of those park simulations where you can follow a guest as they desperately budget for next year’s family vacation, or follow a guest house desperately trying to sell all the park trinkets they bought on eBay for extra gas money and car sandwiches? That sounds ridiculous. Come on, industry. Until then, we’ll at least have simulated changing rooms for quick speedometer changes, and you’ll have to carefully organize them to keep the flow of walking wallets running smoothly.

Guests in Planet Coaster 2 will be more diverse and different, the developers say, and you'll also get more feedback on whether or not they're having fun. You'll also need to make sure they have access to things like sunscreen and shade, as they can now get sunburned if the weather gets too hot.

‘Flat journeys’ like teacups will offer more creative options, such as adding scenery and plans directly to journeys. Frontier says they’ve “reduced” some of the complexity of certain journeys to provide more room for customisation.

Most of the rest of the video shows off the new, impressive rides that I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to get working properly. But they do look good! You’ll also be able to polish the coaster cars yourself with QOL tools like mirroring and mirroring to save on adding individual pieces. Finally, the video mentions the need for water filtration in your pools as they get dirty over time.

Given Planet Coaster's incredibly dedicated and talented modding community, it shouldn't be long before your desired theme appears on the Steam workshop, unless it's already in the game. I'd never pass up an opportunity to share this incredible Aliens journey. Earlier this year, Frontier teased three “creative management sim” games, one of which was a new entry in the Jurassic World series. Assuming Planet Coaster 2 is one of them, that leaves one more. Two Point isn't planning on reviving Dungeon Keeper anytime soon, so may I humbly suggest Planet Dungeon? And when I say “humbly,” I mean aggressively. Go for it.

Leave a Comment