This page is intended as a list of tips that might not be entirely obvious to newer players of Cities: Skylines II, but which once explained can make the game more enjoyable.

Road Building Basics

• You can build bridges and tunnels by adjusting the road’s elevation with Page Up and Page Down keys. (D-Pad up and down for console players).
• The blue line perpendicular to road direction while drawing denotes a measurement of 10 units, and it becomes visible at 5 units out. This is helpful with drawing precise curves such as building custom roundabouts.
• Remember, The Grid is king. Having blocks of road rectangles can help services and people move around extremely quickly. You should build a grid-like road structure in busy city centers.

Basic Services and Early Budget Management

• It is recommended to pause the simulation at the start until you have all necessary infrastructure laid down, so the upkeep costs do not redundantly drain your small treasury before citizens move in. However, keep in mind, citizen aren’t moving in or paying taxes when the game is paused, and you can quickly run out of money by building too much.
• You get a money bonus when you reach milestones.
• Once you unlock taxes, you can set the rates to 11-12% without making citizens and businesses unhappy.
• Always have your water pumping station upstream of your drain pipe with a comfortable distance apart, otherwise you will pollute the drinking water and poison your citizens. If the body of water provided has no current, it’s recommended to use water towers on non-polluted ground.
• A single water supply and single sewage building will be able to provide far more supply than required when first starting a new city. Reducing the water/sewage budget can save a significant amount of money. If you set it to 50% (cost) it will provide 25% service. This is fine as your fledgling city will not need even that much. As demand for water increases, gradually increase the budget. Once 100% demand is reached, place new pumps and sewers and drop the budget again. Once the city is large enough, it’s no longer worth micromanaging the budget for water/sewer and you should simply leave it at 100%.