Lego Skylines Is More Than Just A Lego Skin On A Familiar Game

Our hands-on preview of Lego Skylines at Gamescom quickly allayed any fears that Paradox's new city builder would just be Cities Skylines with a fun new skin. It's so much more than a glorified DLC. This is undoubtedly its own game, something shaped from the ground up to be both a solid city-builder from a recognized name and a charming Lego game with all the trademark humor and tactile brick action. You start by choosing your avatar from a selection of Lego mini figures, making you a tangible character in their world, and you're soon tasked with building a home. Crucially, though, you're not zoning residential areas--you are literally building one home. For a family of real brick-based guys with real needs and wants and desires. In this case my Lego family wished for a garden gnome to be placed outside their house, which I was easy enough to fulfill. With Lego Skylines you really do start brick-by-brick. Houses are selected from menus first by size and then by appearance. Each house of the same size is functionally the same, but you can choose if you'd like a sleek, flat-roofed city pad or a rustic farmstead. A family will eventually move in and the house type will help dictate w…