🎢 Pacifica Playground
“Come out and play.”
📋 Quick Reference
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | Corporate-sponsored amusement park / vacation district |
| District | Pacifica |
| Status | Operational, constant renovation |
| Key Feature | Playland by the Sea |
| Security | Corporate (inside park), dangerous (outside) |
📝 Overview
Pacifica Playground is a largely corporate-sponsored sub-district of Pacifica built around Playland by the Sea — Night City’s premier amusement park and vacation destination. The park features braindance adventures, theme park rides, a roller coaster, Continental Brands food courts, and corporate security that actually works. Much of the park is in constant renovation.
Outside the park gates, Pacifica Playground is a different story. The surrounding neighborhood is a patchwork of cube hotels for construction workers, neo-luddite apartments, celebrity restaurants, and gang territory where Voodoo Boys, Steel Vaqueros, and 6th Street all maintain presence.
📜 History
Pre-War Paradise
Before the Fourth Corporate War, Pacifica was an upper-class residential area nestled between Pacific cliffs and Rancho Coronado. Protected by a Militech security contract, Pacifica was a safe haven. The newly renovated Playland by the Sea drew amusement park crowds from San Francisco in the north and tourist traffic from the south. On the cliffs, the expensive condos of the Coastview development offered views of both the open sea and the bright lights below.
Surviving the War
Unlike most of Night City, Playland by the Sea survived the Fourth Corporate War and the Time of the Red largely intact. The old coastal estates died, but the park lived on — providing joy to those who could afford it.
The Expansion That Wasn’t (late 2050s)
Investors tried to transform Pacifica into a booming tourist resort. They imported hundreds of laborers — primarily from Haiti — and poured billions into hotels, casinos, shopping centers, spas, and a bigger, bolder Playland. Then the Unification War killed the dream. Investors withdrew their money. Buildings stood half-finished. Those who could leave left. The rest built their own communities from the ruins.
🏗️ Inside the Park
Playland by the Sea
The main attraction. Corporate-sponsored and corporate-secured, stepping through the gates is like entering a different city. Features include:
- Theme park rides — including a roller coaster (surviving it earns you bragging rights)
- Braindance adventures — immersive VR experiences
- Holostravaganza Concert Hall — backstage tours available for dates
- Continental Brands food courts — and the unique Pineapple Madness Kibble
- GunMart Museum of Movie Weapons — run by “Nedd,” who makes custom weapons and needs field testers. Ask to see the life-size Ark of the Covenant.
- Concession stands — some staffed by gang members working day jobs
Discounted Entry
Residents of nearby cube hotels qualify for half-off park tickets, valid Monday through Thursday during the day.
Eden Beach Mega Ride
The remains of an older or adjacent section of the park in Coastview — an abandoned Ferris wheel and roller coaster standing as rusting monuments to what Pacifica was supposed to become.
🏘️ The Surrounding Neighborhood
Notable Locations
| Location | Type | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Daiseikō | Japanese restaurant | Night City’s hottest traditional restaurant. Head chef “Ryu Sakai” is actually Tetsuo, a retired Solo hiding from the Chiba Yakuza after a bodysculpting job |
| Mister Rice Guy | Automated sushi joint | Always open. Famous for its black rice roll |
| Bits’n’Bolts (BnB) | Repair/salvage shop | Owner: “Patchz.” Quick repairs for construction workers. Thick steel door covered in graffiti |
| Pleasant Valley Apartments | Residential | Built for neo-luddites. Now known as a discreet spot for execs to rent for secret meetings and affairs |
| Scenic Cubes | Cube Hotel | Beautiful roof view of Night City. Boostergang members on the roof |
| Cubeland by the Sea | Cube Hotel | Former construction worker housing. Close enough to Playland for discounted tickets |
| Playhouse | Haunted building | Where a troubled reality show was filmed. Reports of screams, cold spots, voices on radios, blood scent in the elevator |
| Coronado Heights | Residential complex | Near the Rancho Coronado border. Views of Playland. Heavy gang presence |
👥 People & Factions
- Voodoo Boys — control surrounding Pacifica territory
- Steel Vaqueros — present in the adjacent areas; Sin Gin works a Playland concession stand at night
- 6th Street — presence in the Coronado Heights area
- Philharmonic Vampyres — crashed a Halloween party at Playland, mocking children’s costumes for “an unrefined aesthetic with no understanding of the tortured demonic souls belonging to the night’s twisted creatures”
- Pacifica Sea Shells — roller derby team, all Playland employees. Current league champions since 2040. Despite 12-hour amusement park shifts, they train like boot camp
🎲 GM Resources
Quick Reference
Inside the park: Safe, corporate security, normal commerce. Treat as corporate zone. Outside the park: Dangerous at night. Gang territory rules apply. Use Pacifica encounter tables.
Adventure Hooks
- Nedd at the GunMart Museum needs field testers for custom weapons. The tests are more dangerous than advertised
- The Yakuza have found Tetsuo at Daiseikō. Extract the chef before dinner service
- Someone is using Pleasant Valley Apartments for more than affairs — a corpo is running a black clinic
- The Philharmonic Vampyres plan to crash another park event. This time they’re bringing more than insults
- The Playhouse building is actually haunted. Or someone wants people to think it is. Either way, the screaming is driving out residents
- The Pacifica Sea Shells’ star player has gotten mixed up with Steel Vaqueros. Get her out before the next derby match
🔗 Related Topics
(Sources: CRB pp.289, 296, 312; EMK pp.18–19; DGD pp.40–41; Streetstories pp.101–103, 178–179; Hope Reborn p.717; Interface RED Vols 2–5)