ShantyTown

About

This game is inspired by my love for densely built cities around the world—the kind of places where every wall, alley, and rooftop tells a story. You’ll be encouraged to build upwards, fill the smallest gaps, and find clever ways to place light sources or decorations to bring your creations to life.

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8
Based on
297 reviews
Country Compatibility:
Languages:
Developer:
Erik Rempen
Publisher:
Kinephantom Games
Release date:
16 April 2026
Genre:
Recent Steam reviews:
Very Positive (77)
All Steam reviews:
Very Positive (297)

Game features

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Description

This game is inspired by my love for densely built cities around the world—the kind of places where every wall, alley, and rooftop tells a story.

You’ll be encouraged to build upwards, fill the smallest gaps, and find clever ways to place light sources or decorations to bring your creations to life.

You’ll step into the role of a surveyor, building and photographing 20 distinct locations, each with its own mood and identity. Be it the warm glow of the Hotpot Casino, the charmingly cramped spaces of the Marshlands Pipe, or the solitude of the Lighthouse, every space gives you a new perspective.

How you place things together is entirely up to you.

Upgrades are available for larger structures like buildings and gates, but they’ll need a bit of care to reach their full potential. By providing light, utilities, and decorations, places like shops, apartment blocks, or gates can evolve into detailed spaces. Completing an upgrade unlocks new objects and decorations, giving you even more ways to shape the town.

When you finish a location, frame the shot, take a pic, then add it to your dossier before moving to your next blank canvas.

Each location presents a unique set of objects and a limited space to build within. Whether it’s food trucks, neon signs, or industrial smokestacks, players must carefully fit everything together to create a dense, living space that feels right.

This is a casual game through and through. There are no wrong answers here. Remember to make each placement personal, and every messy little corner adds to the charm.

With ShantyTown's added Creative Mode, you have unlimited building options with every unlocked location and item that you've acquired throughout your journey through ShantyTown.  Stack buildings hide, wide, and in any direction. We've also included a Blankspace with an enormous sandbox space to design custom towns and shops to your heart's desire. Design custom creations with no restrictions whatsoever.

  • Unique decorations across every map

  • Discover each location’s story as you build

  • A warm, relaxing soundtrack crafted by vaporwave artist Macroblank

  • Optional goals to guide your creativity

  • Peaceful, atmospheric scenery to unwind with

  • In-depth camera settings to frame your creations

  • Hidden objects waiting to be found

  • No time or pressure. Please, enjoy everything at your own pace.

Recommended system requirements

minimum*

OS:
Windows 10+
Processor:
Dual Core CPU, Intel i5 or better
Memory:
8 GB RAM
Graphics:
512MB VRAM, OpenGL 3.0 support
DirectX:
Version 12
Storage:
2 GB available space
Additional Notes:
Have Fun!

recommended*

Not specified

User reviews

ItsAPeish
Recommended | 19 May 2026
20.7h played

This game is so peaceful and soothing! You can get pretty creative building on various parts of the map, and it's very replayable. I usually start the level over a couple of times as I go, since you can't move buildings

Helpful: 3
glowingelephant
Recommended | 21 May 2026
5.0h played

highly recommend, super relaxing and cosy game! i usually struggle with purely sandbox type games like tiny glade because there is no direction or quests but ShantyTown solves this in a great way. if you just want to

Helpful: 5
ShabbyAutumn
Recommended | 13 May 2026
9.1h played

A cozy builder game that gets it. The light puzzle mechanics drive your creativity in ways that make sense, forcing you to think realistically outside the box and making it so you never lose steam. Couldn't stop playing

Helpful: 0
cngz22nd
Recommended | 15 May 2026
31.9h played

Buy this game to: 1. build a skyscraper out of OSHA violations. 2. Enjoy a beautiful natural environment 3. [strike]overthrow[/strike] support a government in their quest to [strike]destroy priceless

Helpful: 0
Goldie
Recommended | 21 May 2026
87.6h played

I had a lot of fun playing this game. If you enjoy games of this style you will likely enjoy it as well. The challenges across a map add some uniqueness. I have some minor gripes, with the creative mode, it just isn't

Helpful: 0
Itbegrass
Recommended | 15 May 2026
17.5h played

Played the demo in April and fell in love with this game, and bought the full game the day it released. If you love building with mini challenges every level you'll love this. I love that you are able to replay the

Helpful: 0