Cities: Skylines gets a brand new expansion with Natural Disasters, an addition which lets players summon things like tornadoes, tsunamis, forest fires, and more.

Cities: Skylines launched almost two years ago to devastating effect, quickly taking its rightful place as the most popular city simulator – a title which had been long held by the recently troubled SimCity franchise. Cities: Skylines managed to succeed where the original IP had failed, creating an enjoyable experience that really let gamers feel as if their city had come to life, and one which notably launched without constant online issues. As with any game that lets people create, though, sometimes half the fun is letting them destroy.

That's exactly why Colossal Order has developed the Natural Disasters expansion, which has just released today. The disaster-themed expansion will give gamers a hearty throwback to the days of SimCity 2000, except on an even larger scale. Since we're comparing this to a game where a giant spider robot could reign down sheer terror, that's quite a statement.

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Players will be able to call down a variety of natural disasters at their will, ranging from tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, forest fires, and more. While these disasters can unfold naturally, we feel most of them will be triggered by havoc-happy gamers shortly after saving. There's also a handy disaster scheduling system, to make the wanton destruction a little more organized.

Would-be mayors can also invest in early warning systems and disaster response teams, which will have a large factor in how many citizens can be saved when the inevitable occurs. From underground shelters to emergency radio towers, players will have to put a price tag on how many services to employ beforehand, and if they're really worth the costly investment during said peacetime.

The Natural Disasters expansion will also bring 5 new scenarios into the fold, which should present a challenge for the most stalwart of mayors. Across each scenario a devastating disaster will occur, and it'll be up to the player to help the city recover from nature's wrath. Whether its rebuilding all those roundabouts or even fixing up Los Santos, each city exists for the player's amusement, and the inhabitants suddenly bear a strange resemblance to the hosts in Westworld. Whether that player really wants to make it rain fire, though, is up to them.

Aside of the cosmetic additions like the European update or the Snowfall package, Natural Disasters is the largest update Cities: Skylines has seen ever since After Dark. The sheer scale of the disasters should be enough to put any mayor on edge, and the expansion adds a dose of adrenaline to what has, until now, been a very peaceful title by design.

The Natural Disasters expansion will run gamers a cool $14.99.

Are you interested in making a cacophony of chaos in the new Cities: Skylines expansion, Ranters?

Cities: Skylines is available now for PC, Mac, and Linux. While it is slated to arrive on the Xbox One, no release date has been given for this.