Martin JørgensenCities in Motion is still one of the best transport simulators
Cities in Motion is a detailed transport and management game where you build and operate a public transit network in European cities like Vienna, Helsinki, Berlin, and Amsterdam.
Developed by Colossal Order and published by Paradox Interactive, the focus is clearly on planning rather than action. It’s not about creating the prettiest city, but about moving people from residential areas to work, leisure, and shopping—without running your company into the ground.
We tested Cities in Motion on a Windows 11 PC via Steam, and while the game definitely shows its age, the core idea still works surprisingly well. Once you’ve set up your first bus routes, the trams start running, and passengers slowly fill the stops, the game quickly delivers that classic “just one more route” feeling.
From 1920 to 2020 with buses, metro and trams
Cities in Motion lets you manage public transit over a long time span from 1920 to 2020. That means both the cities’ needs and the vehicles you can deploy change over time. According to Paradox, you can choose from more than 30 vehicles across buses, trams, metro, water buses, and helicopters.
It may sound simple, but the balance between budget, capacity, and route planning is what makes the game compelling. A bus line is cheap to set up, but if downtown traffic gets congested, passengers quickly grow unhappy. The metro costs more, but it can move a lot of people efficiently across the city. Trams sit somewhere in between and often feel like a great solution for busy corridors.
There’s real satisfaction in seeing a route you planned start to work. On the flip side, it’s obvious when you’ve designed a weak line. In our test, a few stops filled up fast with too many waiting passengers because we underestimated the demand between residential neighborhoods and job centers.
A game for players who prefer planning over chaos
Cities in Motion isn’t a game where everything explodes on screen or rewards pop up every five seconds. It’s a more patient management sim where you analyze the city, understand passenger flows, and keep tuning your network.
In some ways, it resembles the part of Cities: Skylines where you nerd out over bus lines, metro stations, and traffic flow. The difference is that Cities in Motion makes transit planning the entire focus of the experience. That’s a strength if you love this style of gameplay, but it can feel a bit dry if you expect broad city-building with zoning, industry, budgets, and high-level politics.
Visually, Cities in Motion looks fine for its age, but the graphics aren’t what carry the experience. Cities are readable, traffic is easy to parse, and the UI is serviceable—you just have to accept that it doesn’t feel like a modern game from 2026.
Cities in Motion Collection makes the most sense today
If you want to play Cities in Motion today, the Cities in Motion Collection often makes the most sense because it bundles the base game with multiple expansions. On GOG, for example, the Collection includes add-ons like German Cities, London, Paris, Tokyo, US Cities, and several design packs.
This matters because the base game can feel a bit limited after a few hours. The extra cities and vehicles add variety and make the game far more engaging—especially if you want to work with different city layouts beyond the four original European maps.
The Steam page also shows the game still has an active store page with DLC, which makes it a much safer download than many old games that only exist through unofficial archive sites.
Who should download Cities in Motion?
Cities in Motion is best for players who enjoy strategy, simulation, and transit planning. It’s ideal if traffic and public transportation are your favorite parts of city-builders.
The game is especially interesting for:
🚍 You love bus routes, metro stations, and efficient city transit
🚋 You want a more focused alternative to Cities: Skylines
🚇 You like slower management games with budgets and planning
🛥️ You want to manage multiple modes of transport in one city
🏙️ You want to play an older yet still charming Paradox title
It’s not the best pick if you want cutting-edge graphics, fast-paced action, or a full city sim with everything from industry to tax policy.
Top 5 tips for Cities in Motion
Start with buses before you build expensive metro lines
Avoid very long routes that span the whole city
Watch stops where queues form
Use the metro for heavy connections
Plan for smooth transfers between modes
An older game with a still-strong idea
Cities in Motion is no longer technically impressive, but it still has a sharp core idea: public transit as the heart of the entire game. That makes it narrower than many modern city-builders, but also more focused.
If you like to optimize routes, solve traffic issues, and run a profitable transit company, Cities in Motion is still worth a try. The Collection edition in particular adds enough content that it doesn’t just feel like a retro curiosity.
