Planet Coaster 2 is a theme park simulation game where players design and manage their own amusement parks.
The difficulty mostly depends on whether you choose Creative Mode or Management Mode.
Either way, getting started can be tough if you're unsure where to begin. This article shares strategies to help you thrive in the game's early stages.
New to Planet Coaster 2? Let’s Get You Started
If you're new to simulation games, Planet Coaster 2 might initially feel overwhelming because of all the elements to manage.
You oversee multiple areas of your park, including guest satisfaction, park layout, finances, and staff.
Here’s the ultimate beginner’s guide to help you get started and build a great theme park in Planet Coaster 2:
1. Start with Career Mode for a Solid Foundation
Although it may be tempting to jump into the freeform Sandbox Mode to design without limits, Career Mode is where new players can develop essential skills and learn game mechanics step by step.
Career Mode guides you through the game’s main features, from energizing attractions to balancing guest needs and keeping the park tidy.
This setup helps you work on skills one step at a time, making it less intense. Beyond basic management, Career Mode is also where you’ll get hands-on experience with some of Planet Coaster 2’s unique features, like waterpark mechanics.
You’ll learn to provide electricity for rides, set up food and drink stations, and manage crowd flow while familiarizing yourself with the controls and interface.
This also includes adding water slides, pools, and sunbathing spots. The scenarios in Career Mode often give you partial control over a pre-existing park, so you can learn by improving it rather than building everything from scratch.
2. Pause and Plan Your Paths Carefully
Pathing is important to a well-organized park, affecting how easily guests can navigate your attractions.
A poorly laid-out path system can lead to traffic jams, longer travel times, and unhappy guests who can’t reach key facilities.
To avoid such issues, pause the game and sketch a general layout.
While the game is paused, you can plan a cost-effective network at your own pace.
Use tools like the Hexagon Stamp to create spacious plazas or the Line and Draw tools for fine-tuned path designs.
A well-planned path layout helps guests find their way to popular attractions, food stalls, and restrooms more easily.
This enhances their experience and makes them want to stay longer. For example, placing wide paths near high-traffic attractions, such as roller coasters or water slides, helps reduce bottlenecks.
Consider a central path with smaller branches leading to different areas of the park to ensure smooth flow and prevent crowding.
Since you can use the Undo button while paused, you have the flexibility to test different layouts until you find one that works best.
3. Take Advantage of Ready-Made Rides and Blueprint Designs
While the coaster-building tools in Planet Coaster 2 are pretty advanced, they might be tricky for new players.
Beginners may benefit from initially using pre-built rides and blueprint designs, which let you focus on learning other aspects of the game, such as guest satisfaction and park finances.
Pre-built rides have balanced ratings for Excitement, Fear, and Nausea, making them more likely to be successful with guests straight out of the gate.
Blueprints also unlock full structures and themed decor, including rides, shops, and scenic features.
You can find user-created blueprints in the Frontier Workshop and add community-made designs to your park.
Over time, you’ll feel more comfortable experimenting with custom rides.
However, blueprints allow you to focus on understanding your park’s operations and guest feedback rather than spending hours on ride design.
4. Put Guest Needs First and Monitor Feedback
Happy guests make a park work, so prioritize their needs.
Each guest has unique needs like hunger, thirst, energy, and entertainment.
They also actively provide input on what needs improvement. Monitoring guest feedback is one of the most effective ways to determine required improvements.
You can get feedback on what guests enjoy or dislike by clicking on them or accessing the Guest Thoughts tab on any ride, shop, or facility.
The feedback is color-coded: green for positive responses, yellow for areas to improve, and red for urgent issues.
Guests will voice their reactions to different aspects of your park, such as ride quality, queue wait times, and cleanliness.
For example, if several guests mention long wait times or limited seating, consider adding more benches or widening your path network.
Additionally, keeping your park clean by hiring janitors and having enough restrooms is crucial for positive guest feedback.
Rest areas near crowded zones also give guests a break, especially in larger parks with more ground to cover.
5. Enhance Ride and Park Appeal with Scenery
The scenery around the rides and paths can make your park stand out.
Scenery contributes directly to the “prestige” of rides, increasing their attractiveness and, in turn, drawing more guests.
Consider placing scenery along the queue lines and around the ride when setting up a new ride.
For example, adding pirate-themed scenery around a log flume or jungle foliage near a safari ride makes each attraction feel unique.
This improves the guest experience and raises profitability, as guests are more likely to be drawn to well-decorated areas.
Prestige can impact guests' excitement and willingness to spend, and decorations can be thematic or consist of various items.
Even filling open spaces with generic decor can positively affect your park’s look and feel.
If you’re short on time, many blueprints come with pre-decorated settings that boost prestige immediately.
Although cutting back on decoration might seem like a way to save money, a well-decorated park draws in more visitors and boosts guest satisfaction.
Have you tried using community blueprints in your park design? Let us know your experience in the comments below!