Cities: Skylines II Walkthrough#

Cities: Skylines II has no traditional “main story” or “final boss.” Its “campaign” is a growth arc that takes you from empty land to a thriving metropolis, and that arc is driven by milestones: once your city’s population reaches certain thresholds, new zone types, road tiers, and public service buildings unlock. Understanding the order of that progression matters more than memorizing any single trick — every stage has its own bottleneck, and the real “walkthrough” of this game is spotting which constraint is biting and what to build next.

This page breaks the city’s growth into six phases, in the order you will encounter them. Each phase covers what to build, which indicators to watch before moving on, and the pitfalls that are easiest to fall into.

Phase 1: Site Selection and Getting Started (Building a Survival Base)#

Three things come first: pick a map tile, connect the highway, and lay water and power. Those three decide whether the city survives at all.

Site Selection Criteria#

What to check	What to look for	Why it matters
Terrain slope	Start on flat ground; save hills and mountains for later	Early road and pipe budgets are tight, and flat land keeps laying costs down
Water access	Keep the city close to a river or lake	Water pumping stations must sit on a shoreline, and longer pipes cost more
Highway connection	Is there a ready highway link at the map edge?	It is your only outside connection at the start; industrial materials and new residents both arrive through it
Resource distribution	Are fertile land, ore, and oil within reach?	Determines whether you can pursue specialized industry later to push up tax income

Startup Build Order#

Pull a main artery road out of the highway interchange — this becomes the city’s primary road.
Zone small patches of low density residential and low density industrial along that road, and keep commercial zoning minimal at first so the city does not sprawl too early.
Build one starter power plant (a wind turbine works well) and a water pumping station, then connect the residential area with pipes and power lines.
Drop the game speed down and watch the population climb.

Early-Game Health Checks#

Is the population growing? If growth stalls, the usual culprits are no room to live, missing water or power, or homes too far from workplaces.
Is the cash flow positive? If the monthly balance keeps running negative, your services or roads are built ahead of the population — pause non-essential construction first.
Is garbage piling up? Overflow at this stage means you underbuilt garbage bins and processing capacity.

Phase 2: The First Expansion (Adding Public Services)#

Once population is climbing steadily and the budget has turned positive, the city hits its first real turning point: citizens start demanding public services. Ignore this phase and satisfaction slides, and people begin to move out.

Expansion Checklist#

Priority	Build	Citizen need it answers
High	Medical clinic	Poor healthcare coverage gets citizens sick and drives them away
High	Fire station	Fires are the surest way to burn out a whole block in the early game
High	Power capacity	Electricity demand spikes once the population grows; have substations or a new plant ready in advance
Medium	Elementary school	Without education, the future workforce cannot fill higher-skilled jobs
Medium	Garbage processing facility	Long-term garbage buildup drags down nearby land value and satisfaction
Low	Police station	No rush before crime rises, but reserve space where foot traffic is dense

Expansion Health Checks#

Are service coverage circles hollowed out? Open the coverage overlay and look for holes in clinic and fire station coverage; wherever a gap appears, add a site.
Garbage and sewage warnings: Piling garbage and overflowing sewage are explicit signals — build the matching facility where the map points you.
Satisfaction panel: Find the lowest-rated breakdown — healthcare, education, or environment — and fix whatever tops the complaint list first.

Phase 3: Transport Backbone and Commercial Boom#

Once the town takes shape, traffic becomes the first force big enough to choke it. The core task of this phase is upgrading from “one main road” to a tiered road network.

Road Hierarchy#

Road tier	Role	Layout notes
Arterial roads	Carry heavy cross-district flow	Connect the highway exit to each district and keep signalized intersections to a minimum
Collector roads	Distribute traffic within a district	Branch off the arterials and link residential, commercial, and industrial areas
Local roads	Reach individual buildings	Serve buildings directly; low traffic and low speed limits

Fixing Congestion#

Watch the traffic heat map and find the nodes that stay “red” for long stretches.
At the worst chokepoints, add roundabouts, ramps, or interchanges to remove conflicting crossings.
Turn on public transit: run buses along the arterials first, then add metro or trams once population density justifies it.
Make sure homes and workplaces are linked directly by bus or metro so commuting shifts from private cars to transit — that is the fundamental fix for arterial pressure.

Transport Health Checks#

Are commutes too long? Long commutes cut workplace satisfaction, which leads to unfilled jobs and struggling commerce.
Transit usage: Empty vehicles mean the lines miss where people live and work; packed vehicles mean you need more frequency or a heavier mode.
Are goods flowing smoothly? How efficiently raw materials reach factories and finished goods reach commercial areas decides whether industry and commerce can thrive.

Phase 4: Density Upgrades and Industry Chains#

With population, services, and transport all stable, you can start buying efficiency with vertical space: upgrade low density zones to medium and high density, and complete the industry chain.

When to Upgrade Density#

Target area	Upgrade when	Watch out for
Downtown residential	Land value is high and demand is strong	High density housing packs in people, so services and public transit must scale up at the same time
Core commercial	Foot traffic is steady and spending power is solid	High density commercial brings bigger tax revenue but leans harder on transport
Industrial / office	After the industry chain has taken shape	Confirm supply and sales channels flow before upgrading, or you will end up with factories and no materials

Completing the Industry Chain#

Check whether the map has extractable local resources (fertile land, ore, oil, and so on).
If local resources run short, imported materials can keep processing areas running, but at a higher cost.
Specialized industries (those built on local resources) sharply raise economic value per unit and are the key to pushing up tax income in the late game.
Offices and high-tech industry need a highly educated workforce, so invest in high schools and universities first.

Phase 5: Downtown Redevelopment and Quality of Life#

Once the city’s foundations are solid, the walkthrough moves from “functional” to “beautiful.” Redeveloping downtown is not just cosmetic — it directly moves land value, tourism income, and citizen satisfaction.

Downtown Redevelopment Priorities#

Project	Goal	How to do it
Downtown road network	Improve throughput	Calm the arterial where it cuts through downtown and add space for walking and slow traffic
Green space and parks	Raise land value and satisfaction	Slot parks and plazas into gaps between buildings to lift the surrounding appeal
Landmarks	Build a city identity and bring in income	Build them only once the economy is stable; landmark upkeep is expensive, and building them too early will drag down the treasury
Waterfront	Activate the shoreline	Line the river with promenades, viewpoints, and leisure areas

Quality Health Checks#

Land value trend: Land value is the direct feedback on quality investment — parks, greenery, and scenic infrastructure all lift nearby land value.
Visitor numbers: Once landmarks and leisure facilities are in place, tourist counts and tourism income should rise together.
Is satisfaction still stuck low? If satisfaction stays flat after quality spending, a base service (healthcare, education, garbage) still has gaps — fix services before beautification.

Phase 6: Long-Term Stability and Disaster Response#

For a big city, the real test is stability and resilience. This phase is about keeping slack in the system, controlling the pace, and handling disasters.

Long-Term Operations Checklist#

Control the pace of expansion: Before opening each new district, estimate the added upkeep costs and make sure the budget can carry them long-term, so you do not end up “poorer the more you build.”
Reserve spare land: Do not fill every empty plot at once — leave room for future facility upgrades and adjustments.
Fire and emergency coverage: As the city grows, place fire stations district by district so the response radius never misses new areas.
Disaster planning: Watch for severe rain, snow, flood, and other weather or disaster warnings, and pre-plan drainage and evacuation routes in low-lying areas.
Keep multiple saves: Save before any major demolition or policy change so you can roll back if an experimental plan fails.

Quick Troubleshooting Table by Phase#

Symptom	Most likely cause	What to check first
Population stops growing	Not enough housing, or services lag behind	Housing supply, water and power supply, public service coverage
Budget keeps running a deficit	Facilities built ahead of the population	Sky-high upkeep costs, heavy loan interest
Widespread traffic jams	Missing road hierarchy	Arterial nodes, coverage and connections between buses and rail
Satisfaction stays low	Service or environment gaps	Healthcare, garbage, noise, pollution, and other breakdowns
Industry or commerce slumps	A broken industry chain	Material transport, workforce education level, how well sales channels flow
Land value stays cheap	Not enough quality and scenery	Parks and greenery, scenic infrastructure, leisure facilities

Lessons on Pacing the Whole Run#

If you remember one thing from this entire route, make it this: city building is a process of gradual unlocks plus constant rebalancing, not a straight sprint finished in one dash. At every phase, solve whatever is strangling you right now — water and power at the start, services during expansion, transport as you grow, quality and stability once you are mature. Rather than trying to fill the entire map at once, run each new district to stable profitability with complete services before considering the next step. The data panels are your best basis for judgment: the population growth curve, the money flow, the congestion heat map, and the satisfaction breakdowns all tell you what the city actually lacks at this moment — and that decides where you should head next.