Best Theme Park Games for PS5 & PS4

Why it's here: The one I would point a PS5 owner at first. Planet Coaster: Console Edition is the pure coaster park builder on this list: piece-by-piece construction, over 700 Blueprints to drop in when you would rather not fuss, and a Frontier Workshop full of other people's parks to borrow from. The fiddly bit is real, though. The recurring complaint in Steam reviews is pathing, which turns laying a simple walkway into the most stressful part of an otherwise calm evening. Rated E, 4.21 from 5,800 PlayStation players, 91 percent positive across roughly 37,900 Steam reviews. Start here, then decide whether the sequel's water parks tempt you.

Why it's here: The newest game here and the highest-rated one, which is not a sentence I expected to write about a third entry. Jurassic World Evolution 3 adds dinosaur families that breed and age across generations, so a park becomes something you tend rather than just stock, and the animations are the detail players keep bringing up. The flaw I would not wave off: Steam reviews report crashes and a steady stream of DLC grumbling, with reused species a sore point. Rated E10+, with a PS Plus Premium trial, 4.59 from about 7,500 PlayStation players, 94 percent positive across roughly 8,700 Steam reviews. If you want dinosaurs over coasters, this is the one.

Why it's here: The safe middle pick, and the most-rated game on this list by a wide margin. Jurassic World Evolution 2 gives you the film-flavoured park management of the first game with a proper sandbox mode, more species and better-behaved building tools. Where it gets fussy is the opening: Steam reviews describe the long tutorials as a slow start that holds the fun back for hours, and the AI gets compared unfavourably to the original. Rated T, on PS Plus Extra, 4.40 from about 26,100 PlayStation players. A nice balance between management and spectacle, and the one I would try first on Extra before paying for the third.

Why it's here: Planet Zoo is the calm one, and the most detailed. You are building habitats rather than coasters, so the loop is welfare, enrichment and keeping guests fed, with animal animations players consistently call the best in the genre. Comfort comes with a catch. Frustrating path-building is the recurring complaint in Steam reviews, alongside a learning curve that players say the career mode stretches into one long tutorial. Rated E10+, on PS Plus Extra, 4.05 from about 7,800 PlayStation players. For an evening of tidying enclosures rather than chasing profit, it is the save I would keep going back to.

Why it's here: The original is rated almost level with the brand-new third game, and it is usually the cheapest of the three. Jurassic World Evolution keeps park management simple: incubate, contain, keep the power on, and ride out the storms and sabotage that break fences at the worst moment. That simplicity is also the flaw players name most. Steam reviews call it repetitive once the island loop settles, with technical hiccups mentioned alongside. Rated T, 4.57 from about 23,900 PlayStation players. If you are curious about dinosaur parks and would rather spend less, this is a satisfying first stop.

Why it's here: Planet Coaster 2 adds the thing the first game never had: water parks, with flumes and pools alongside the coasters, plus online co-op for building a park with a friend. It is the better toolset. It is also the more divisive game here, and I would not pretend otherwise. The recurring complaint in Steam reviews is how much content sits behind DLC, with confusing management systems and frustrating guest behaviour close behind. Rated E, on PS Plus Extra, 3.58 from about 5,200 PlayStation players, well under the original's score. Try it on Extra first; if the water rides win you over, it earns its place.

Why it's here: Thrillville: Off the Rails is the one that plays like a holiday rather than a spreadsheet. You walk your park in third person, ride your own coasters and play 34 minigames with friends on the same couch, and the soundtrack players keep mentioning is half the charm of the 2007 original. Shallow management is the honest trade: Steam reviews call the park systems thin next to the simulators above it, with some control complaints in the minigames. Rated E10+, on PS Plus Premium, 3.62 from about 700 PlayStation players, 94 percent positive across roughly 800 Steam reviews. Pick it for a shared evening with kids.

Other versions: Thrillville

Why it's here: For anyone who misses the isometric RollerCoaster Tycoon look, Parkitect is the faithful one, and on Steam it is the best-reviewed game on this list. It keeps the logistics the modern games smooth over: staff, deliveries and finances all need managing, across 36 scenarios. The PlayStation port is where I pause. Console players rate it far lower than PC players do, and Steam reviews flag interface friction and a missing undo button that would bite harder on a controller. Rated E10+, 3.14 from about 120 PlayStation players against 95 percent positive from roughly 5,700 Steam reviews. Buy it for the design, not for the port.

Why it's here: RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is the nostalgia pick, and the Complete Edition bundles both expansions, so water parks and animal habitats come in the box. The 2004 design still works: sandbox or career, hundreds of rides, and a camera that lets you ride what you build. The port is the issue. Steam reviews already report crashes and display problems on modern hardware, and PlayStation players rate it lower still. Rated E10+, 3.12 from about 150 PlayStation players, 87 percent positive across roughly 2,000 Steam reviews. Worth it for the memories if you accept a rough edge or two; a newcomer should start with Planet Coaster.

Why it's here: Park Beyond is the gamble on this list, and the lowest-rated game on it. Its impossification mechanic lets coasters do things physics would never allow, cannons and loops included, and players who click with it call the coaster builder the most intuitive here. The rest is the problem. Steam reviews are split down the middle, with bugs, guest pathfinding and simplistic management the complaints that recur, and the price gets called high for what is there. Rated E, with a PS Plus Premium trial, 2.90 from about 600 PlayStation players, 60 percent positive across roughly 550 Steam reviews. Try the trial before paying; it is fun in the moment and fiddly everywhere else.