If you want to experiment in SimCity (aka SimCity 5, the 2013 edition) then the best way to do that is to use the built in cheat codes.
They’re not codes that you have to input like in the previous games, they’re actually key shortcuts, which is kind of nice. You can just quickly press the key combinations to add money, or to turn off fires, etc.
These cheats only work in Sandbox mode. Turning Sandbox mode is region wide, and remember that you can can’t get achievements or challenges in Sandbox mode.
To turn on Sandbox mode, you need to check the Sandbox mode box when you’re creating a new region. This can’t be turned off, so you’ll probably want to setup a specific test region to play with these cheats on.
SimCity 5 Cheat Codes
Add §100,000 to City – Alt+W
Toggle Air Pollution – Alt+A
Toggle Crime – Alt+C
Toggle Fire – Alt+F
Toggle Health Issues – Alt+M
Toggle Ground Pollution – Alt+P
Toggle Homeless Sims – Alt+H
Toggle Sewage – Alt+S