City Builder UI Scaling: Fix Text for Small Screens in 2025

There is nothing worse than squinting at your screen while trying to manage a complex economy on the Taxi to Sandton. You love strategy games, but playing Cities: Skylines II or Civilization VI on a portable device often results in microscopic text. Let’s look at how to optimise City Builder UI scaling so you can read your resource counters without straining your eyes in 2025.

The Challenge of Strategy on Small Screens

South Africans are adopting portable gaming at a rapid pace. It makes sense... load shedding proof gaming is a massive win. However, genres like RTS and City Builders were historically designed for 27-inch monitors, not 7-inch displays. When you shrink that interface down, text becomes illegible.

Fortunately, modern handheld gaming consoles are getting smarter, and game developers are finally adding the accessibility features we need.

Native In-Game Scaling Settings 🔧

The first place to look is always the game's video or accessibility settings. In 2025, most triple-A strategy titles include a "UI Scale" slider.

1. Check Accessibility: Games like Factorio and RimWorld have excellent interface scaling options hidden here.
2. Go Beyond 100%: Push the slider to 120% or 150%.
3. Tooltip Size: Some games allow you to scale tooltips independently from the main HUD.

If you are rocking a Lenovo Legion Go, you already have a massive advantage. Its 8.8-inch display offers significantly more screen real estate than competitors, meaning you might not need to scale the UI as aggressively to make text readable.

Windows and Driver-Level Fixes

Sometimes the game just won't cooperate. Since most of these devices run Windows 11, you can use system-level scaling. Right-click your desktop, go to Display Settings, and adjust the "Scale" to 125% or 150%. Note that this affects the launcher and windows, and only affects the game if you run it in "Windowed Borderless" mode.

For users on the ASUS ROG Ally, remember to utilise the Armoury Crate Command Center. You can quickly toggle the magnifier tool or adjust resolution profiles on the fly without exiting your game session.

Hardware That Handles the Load

Scaling the UI up can sometimes clutter the screen, meaning you need a device that can push high frame rates to keep scrolling smooth even when the interface is busy.

Devices like the MSI Claw utilise Intel’s XeSS technology, which can help upscale the game image while keeping the UI text sharp. This balance of performance and readability is crucial when you are managing thousands of citizens in Frostpunk 2.

Ultimately, don't let bad default settings ruin your empire-building experience. A few tweaks in the menu can turn a frustrating squint-fest into a comfortable, immersive session.