Cities: Skylines is free-to-play on Steam for the weekend

(Image credit: Paradox Interactive)

If you've got a weekend spent indoors ahead of you, it's probably a good time to play the excellent Cities: Skylines. The game is free to try on Steam for the next few days, and if you happen to like it (which you probably will), the base game has a whopping 80 percent discount: that's $6 / £4.60 / AU$8.60.

Of course, there's a wealth of paid expansions to dip into, and this free period coincides with the release of Sunset Harbor, which adds a whole new fishing industry to micromanage. Fraser took the expansion for a spin earlier this week, finding that a fishing industry can struggle to thrive in a desert wasteland. Don't let that put you off, though.

The new expansion also adds five new maps with varying climates (one of them being the above-mentioned desert), and there's a new bus system and passenger helicopter service, too. You can read all about the expansion here. If you want to know why you should try Cities: Skylines, well, maybe watch this 25-minute disaster film set in the game, or witness Chris's frankly terrifying Blimp-opocalypse

Shaun Prescott

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.