Many players will be eager to see all the facilities this new Cities: Skylines entry brings for them to build. However, before creating your roads and homes, you must choose the starting map. The game gives you 10 right off the bat, with five leaning toward a European style and the others to a North American style. While this doesn’t affect much other than the looks of your city, you must pick the right one with the resources and connections you want. To simplify things, we’ve ranked all starting maps in Cities: Skylines 2.
The Best Starting Maps in Cities: Skylines 2
As mentioned, there are 10 maps in Cities: Skylines 2 where you can build your dream city. All of them have 150 tiles, and while that is great, all differ in terms of buildable area, resources, and bodies of water. That’s why, to help you decide, we’ve ranked all of them from worst to best. Remember, this is our personal choice, and you should choose the one that’s best and most fun for you.
10. Windy Fjords
Even if Windy Fjords is way behind on the list, that doesn’t mean it’ll be the worst map to build on. What we mean is that it’ll be challenging, and new players might struggle with some layouts or systems. The reason why we placed this map in the last place is due to how challenging it is to establish a maritime trade or tourist connection. It’ll take a while for players to reach the coastline, and it’ll be costly compared to other maps. Still, it has good outside connections and offers plenty of flat places to build.
9. River Delta
The River Delta map isn’t ideal for new players unless they want a bit of a challenge. This map begins with a large flat area, and as players buy tiles, they’ll find small islands to build. Making roads will be the biggest challenge and might overwhelm those who aren’t too familiar with the road mechanics.
8. Twin Mountain
Twin Mountain is a basic map that offers a lot of building opportunities. However, the lack of an existing train system might make things more costly for players. While it looks great and has plenty of space, those who want faster transportation to their city will struggle. Still, the looks at night are amazing, which makes for the lack of certain things.
7. Great Highlands
The Great Highlands was difficult to put in this starting maps list for Cities: Skylines 2 as it offers excellent things but is hindered by many others. This map has three large areas perfect for building, but some hills might make constructing roads and homes challenging. Yet, the style of this area is quite cozy, and you can create a proper coastal city in this place.
6. Sweeping Plains
Sweeping Plains is a great map that offers players some of the best landscapes in the game. Plus, the open ocean gives a lot of creative room for players to create a small coastal town if they want. This starting map has a long highway that runs across the whole map, making road connections much easier for the inexperienced builder.
5. Lakeland
Reaching the top 5 of the starting maps of Cities: Skylines 2, we have Lakeland. This place is quite challenging but isn’t as difficult as the above ones. Your city will be built around a vast lake where you can spot small islands with flat terrain. This is a great map if you want to maneuver with some road-building.
4. Mountain Village
This might be the hardest map in the game due to its layout. The vistas are incredible, some of the best. However, there’s less building space than in other maps, making managing everything more crucial. Still, the place has many natural resources that can help players establish some cargo sales in the future while they create a tight city.
3. Barrier Island
Barrier Island is one of our favorite maps in the game due to its accessibility to residential zones from the start. If you’ve never played a game of this genre, picking this map as the first is great. You can start making homes and setting up a nice commercial district without issues. The bridge next to the starting area is impressive and will let you cross to another island to continue building during the game’s early hours.
2. Archipelago Haven
This is a builder’s paradise. Anyone who’s played the first game or any other titles similar to this will feel at home. Archipelago Haven has fantastic vistas and many small and large islands for players to build. If you want to make a tropical place with many ways of transportation, you can’t go wrong with this one.
1. Waterway Pass
For us, Waterway Pass is the best starting map in Cities: Skylines 2. It offers the biggest building space of all maps, it has a river that splits the map into two extensive areas, and the terrain is easy to navigate, making construction manageable. Plus, this map offers outside connections for everything, making it easy for players to tap into them and start exporting things.
While this is our preference, all maps are great, and you shouldn’t hesitate to pick the one you like the most. All offer fantastic views and places to build, so don’t be afraid to try them. Remember, the ranking of starting maps in Cities: Skylines 2 goes like this for us:
- Waterway Pass
- Archipelago Haven
- Barrier Island
- Mountain Village
- Lakeland
- Sweeping Plains
- Great Highlands
- Twin Mountain
- River Delta
- Windy Fjords
Ultimately, the place where you build your city is up to you. If you prefer looks, choose the most beautiful for you. On the other hand, if you prefer to min-max your productivity, pay attention to the resources and start building. Also, for those who want a few tips from the developers, here’s a useful video to show you how to get started.
