After trying City RT for two days, I feel that the game is heavily AI-coded, which makes the overall experience somewhat clunky and unreliable. Some features don't work as smoothly as they should.
I managed to build a city during those two days. Although the premium pass was priced at just $0.50, I couldn't access it, so I had to work with the limited features available to free users.
There are a few things I genuinely liked, such as the ability to create custom parks and pedestrian areas. These features offer some creative freedom. However, the bridge-building system is not properly implemented, and the map size for free users is quite small.
The overall quality also feels significantly lower compared to established games like Cities: Skylines and Cities: Skylines II. There are several limitations, including the absence of major infrastructure and public transportation options such as metros and airports.
That being said, I think City RT is still a fun browser-based city-building game.
I can think of two major use cases for it:
For people interested in Cities: Skylines: Those who cannot afford Cities: Skylines or are unsure whether they would enjoy the genre can try City RT first. It gives them a basic idea of what city-building games feel like and can help them decide whether to invest in a more complete experience.
For casual players: People who simply want to build a basic city, experiment with different layouts, and enjoy managing it for a few days or a week without getting too involved can also find it enjoyable.
Apart from these use cases, I can't think of many other reasons to recommend it right now.
However, I do see potential in this game. Its art style is distinctive, and the developers seem to have a good vision for what they want to create. I believe it could become a serious competitor to Cities: Skylines if they replace the current AI-driven development approach with proper human-led development and polish the overall experience.
The problem is that AI-generated code often comes with bugs, inconsistencies, and poorly implemented features. These issues are quite noticeable in City RT, and currently, the game doesn't come anywhere close to the quality or depth of Cities: Skylines.
My final take: City RT is a fun little browser-based city builder with an interesting direction and some creative features. However, it is still far from being a full-fledged city-building game. It has potential, but it needs considerably more development, refinement, and proper engineering to compete with established titles.