There is something very relaxing about planning and building your own virtual city. Just make sure you pay attention to all the various pieces of information if you want to succeed.

My first playthrough ended up being quite difficult because I wasn't building enough health buidlings. By the time I stopped ignoring all the sick people everywhere my entire city was sick. No matter how many hospitals I built I couldn't stop the pandemic. I learned from my mistakes and started again building an even more glorious city.

If you are looking at avoiding the challenge and just want to sandbox a city, turn on mods that automatically unlock all buildings as well as unlimited money and enjoy! Build to your hearts content and see how epic a city you can make.