Newcomers Should Have No Problem Diving Straight Into Planet Coaster 2

The first Planet Coaster was packed full of content upon its November 2016 launch, offering what many fans still consider to be the ultimate theme park management experience. With post-launch DLC, Planet Coaster became an even bigger and better game. But it’s been almost eight years since Planet Coaster launched, and long-time fans are desperate for something new. Thankfully, Planet Coaster 2 is just weeks away from release, and it’s bringing a ton of new content to the table.

With water parks, flumes, new flat ride and rollercoaster designs, the ability to place scenery directly on a ride, and a bevy of new facilities and management options, Planet Coaster 2 is going to give fans plenty of new features to experiment with upon its November 6 launch date. While long-time fans are undoubtedly looking forward to this onslaught of new content, newcomers might be a little intimidated. Game Rant recently had a chance to sit down with Planet Coaster 2‘s senior executive producer Adam Woods, who spoke all about Planet Coaster 2‘s new onboarding process.

How Planet Coaster 2 Is Welcoming Fans and Newcomers Alike

Planet Coaster 2’s New Tutorials

Strategy games can be notoriously difficult to get into for newcomers, and that’s particularly true for management games like Planet Coaster 2. On top of building rollercoasters and placing flat rides, Planet Coaster 2 tasks players with managing the entire park’s finances and well-being, which now includes monitoring the park’s electricity needs.

While long-time Planet Coaster fans will be used to this multi-layered gameplay loop, it’s a lot for newcomers to wrap their heads around. Thankfully, Planet Coaster 2‘s Adam Woods was able to provide an insight into the sequel’s onboarding process, including its new tutorial system:

Within the career mode, there are two levels dedicated to tutorials. The first one is based on the fundamentals of managing a theme park, as well as coasters and flat rides. The second one focuses a bit more on the water park side. Completing those two will give you a good, solid foundation so that you’re ready for the rest of the career mode.

Game Rant was able to play through these tutorials during its recent hands-on preview with Planet Coaster 2. While it definitely helps to have prior knowledge of management games before diving into Planet Coaster 2, these tutorials will provide new players with all the key bits of information they need to get going, though it might take some time to get used to all the systems.

Planet Coaster 2’s Refined UI and Streamlined Features

One of the biggest quality-of-life improvements that fans have been wanting from Planet Coaster 2 is improved UI, and the sequel seems to be delivering it, at least in the places that really matter. Woods spoke about this during his recent sit-down with Game Rant, saying,

The way that we try to design our user-interfaces is so that it layers complexity. You’ve got an info panel on a ride, for example, and its first tab is a summary. But you can drill into the details, you can use the heatmaps, and that can lead you into the management screens. Have a look at all the screens first, and you’ll grow with the game and start to ease into the rest of it.

While veteran Planet Coaster 2 fans will be able to immediately get in the weeds with the sequel’s new customization and management systems, new players will be able to use its streamlined UI to approach things one step at a time and learn gradually as they play the game.

While Planet Coaster 2‘s new tutorials and streamlined UI will hopefully go a long way in making the sequel approachable for newcomers, Woods did cite one more key resource that new players can use if they feel they need help:

We have such a lovely, engaged, passionate community surrounding Planet Coaster, and they’re just willing to help other people out and give tips and tricks. Look at the workshop, look at what they’re creating and just really immerse yourself in it.