A player has accumulated nearly 30,000 hours of playing time in “Cities: Skylines/Cities: Skylines”. The result is not praise, but direct criticism: This is the most frustrating and irritating game in my life.
The post mentioned that if 30,000 hours is true, it translates to roughly playing it almost every day in the 11 years since the game was launched. Of course, some people speculate that part of it may be hanging on, but even if it is only half or even three-quarters, it is still a ridiculous level of investment. What’s even more exaggerated is that Steam data also shows that this player still logged 68.3 hours in the past two weeks, which means that he is not “addicted in the past and quit now”, but has been sticking to it.
Why do you still hate it after playing it for so long?
The breaking point of this player is very clear: he believes that it is difficult to play “Cities: Skylines” comfortably without installing mods, because the native content is too boring and unbearable; but official updates will continue to break the modules, causing the city you have worked hard to build, the system you have adjusted, and the module combination you have installed may be shattered as soon as you update it. He also complained that Paradox seemed to be obsessed with the pastel cartoon visual style and architectural appearance, making the native experience even less appetizing.
He had obviously been playing for this long, but he described it in the cruelest tone
The interesting point lies in this extreme contrast: a person can invest nearly 30,000 hours, which to some extent proves that he actually enjoys this city building cycle; but the frustration of being dependent on the module for many years and constantly being destroyed by updates has finally accumulated into the most irritating game in my life. This is not simply bad breath, but more like the exhaustion of deep love.
“Cities: Skylines” actually still has a very good reputation
“Cities: Skylines” is still a very well-received city-building game overall, and is often listed on the top lists of its genre; many players also think it is more worth playing than “Cities: Skylines II (Cities: Skylines 2/Cities: Skylines 2)”, which was launched in 2023 and received mixed reviews. In other words, this 30,000-hour review will become popular not because the game is really bad, but because it shows everyone the long-term pain points of mod players in the most extreme way.