Free Planet Coaster Winter Update adds rides, blueprints, and Cosmic Cow Ice Cream

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Frontier Developments has released a free winter update for Planet Coaster, its popular game of theme park fettling. The update features the new Collider and Bumpin' Derby rides, the Sleigh Ride and Iron Horse tracked rides (for those who prefer gentler puttering around the park,) plus a new scenario, shops, winter theme and scenery objects, and a set of five new coaster blueprints.

Collider, "a retro sci-fi ride with 20 swinging gondolas on a horizontal Ferris Wheel," was the winner of a recent community poll, community manager Bo Marit said in the announcement, while Bumpin' Derby is a "long-time favorite."

On the more nuts-and-bolts side of things, there are also new "macro management features" that will let you globally set prices, sync shops, and open and close attractions and shops, an "All Staff" view that does essentially the same thing for your employees, changes to the info panel, and a new "recently used" tab in each browser category. A detailed breakdown of the Planet Coaster winter update is available here.

Frontier also announced plans for a 24-hour charity livestream featuring the community managers of both Planet Coaster and Elite: Dangerous that will begin at noon GMT/7 am EST on December 19. Funds raised will go to the SpecialEffect charity that assist disabled people with the use of technology (including games!), and everyone who donates will be entered into a draw for prizes from both games, plus a high-end gaming PC and consoles.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.