While SimCity 2013 did move the series forward with new features, many saw it as a huge step back due to the online-only nature of the game. This effectively made it impossible to play at launch due to server issues.
Things have improved considerably since then, but it’s fair to say that players want more from this title.
Fast forward to today and SimCity 2013 is more alive than ever, in large part thanks to the many mods developed by the community.
Whether you’re picking this up for the first time or just looking to replay some SimCity fun, here’s a list of all the best mods we feel truly improve the game: new features, new visuals, and new reasons to keep you glued to your PC.
If you want your city to be the best looking of all time, you need a memorable landmark.
Even if you lift it straight from another city.
The Unisphere mod introduces one of the many landmarks that make New York City one of the most famous cities in the entire world. This landmark is basically a fountain, replacing St. Basil’s Cathedral, so it works well with modern Cities of Tomorrow aesthetics.
Next stop, Whateveritsnameis City’s New Central Station.
This new Central Train Station not only looks quite good, but it also has some neat features that you would never see in vanilla.
Such as the ability to build this train station on roads, tracks, and at a much higher capacity. The downside is that you can only use it in offline mode.
Not only they will make your citizens more educated, but they’ll also line up your pockets with money.
This museum mod, which can only be used offline, is both a landmark and a library that will make it easier for you to earn tons of money thanks to its gift shop.
With something like this in the city, you definitely have the chance of becoming the mayor of the year. Or even of the century!
The World Trade Center was a true New York City landmark until tragedy struck on 9/11.
Gone but never forgotten, as they say.
One of the best ways to remember these older days of NYC is to keep the memory of the Twin Towers alive inside Sim City 2013.
This mod pack doesn’t add any new features, but the recreation is so well done that it’s a must-download for all SimCity mayors who aim to make their city one to remember.
Being geared toward online play, there aren’t many mods that can be used while connected to the internet.
If you pull the plug(or rather your router cable) a whole new world of possibility will open up.
Among the best mods you can download for SimCity 2013 offline is this HQ Upgrades mod. It’ll let you obtain HQ upgrades instantly.
I know, I know: Rome wasn’t built in a day. But I’m no conqueror, and I want everything to be done as quickly as possible. Plus this is the 21st century, c’mon.
A city thrives as long as its citizens do. So enough talk, let’s get to thriving.
The New RCI 1.1 mod is actually a pretty complex addition to the game. It allows your city to have more citizens while reducing the number of total buildings needed.
As this changes gameplay balance quite a bit, you can only use this mod offline (like many of them in this list). But it’s not a big deal, considering how much you’ll be able to accomplish in far less time.
The number of mods released for Sim City 2013 can be so overwhelming that you may give up on installing any of them altogether.
Or, you can just take a look at this pack to see the world of possibilities modding opens up.
The SUGC Pack includes tons of mods created by the community that tweak many of the game’s features, all while introducing new buildings and so on.
All the mods included are compatible with one another, too. So you can enjoy a newer Sim City 2013 without having to worry about glitches, crashes, and all those annoyances that come with modding… well, the won’t be coming with this pack!
All the best cities in the world have thriving ports that bring tourism and trade.
The best city in the world has one that can be placed wherever you want.
The Coastline and Waterways Tools is a must-try addon that allows you to place docks for both the trade port and ferry wherever you want. Their efficacy is not getting increased, to tell the truth… but this is not important when you have the ability to customize how your city looks without any limitations.
Having a constant and reliable flow of data in SimCity 2013 is no longer something unattainable, all thanks to the Extended Worker Data mod.
This extremely useful mod introduces three bars to civic, commercial, and industrial buildings rollovers. This way you can instantly learn of many jobs each building supports, letting you plan the development of your city’s economy properly.
I have to be honest here: I have a weird fascination for bridges of all shapes and sizes.
So imagine my joy when I found out about the Regional Bridge and Tunnels mod.
This introduces a variety of different tunnels and bridges that can be used in a lot of different city designs, no matter the theme you’re following, no matter their size.
And if you feel creative and daring, try including a Dirt Road Bridge in your modern city and make it look good. I’ll be waiting for screenshots.
Project Orion is an essential mod for SimCity 2013. Why?
It lets you push way beyond the boundaries set by the developers.
While the project is rather complex, all you need to know about Orion is that it adds an extended map that is much bigger than the vanilla one. As such, it may bring performance and stability issues for older systems, but this is a risk that every true SimCity player should take.
Installing Project Orion properly can be a feat in itself. It needs a lot of different mods to function properly.
For this reason, a dedicated modder put together the Orion’s Belt Modpack, a compilation of all the mods Project Orion needs to function properly, all 100% ready for installation.
I really don’t know what we would ever do without these modders.
A game like SimCity 2013 needs an amazing user interface.
An interface like the one introduced by Project Akar!
This mod is, without a doubt, one of the best mods released for SimCity 2013. If only for the fact that it completely does away with the clunky vanilla GUI in favor of a new menu system that’s way smoother and way easier to use.
The downside? It’s an offline only mod. But hey, for a more intuitive city building experience I’ll take some hours offline with a big ol’ smile.
