Townscaper | Chilled Out Game Review

Welcome to Chilled Out Game Reviews. If you’re looking to find a relaxing game to play to de-stress, you’ve come to the right place. Townscaper is described by its creator as more of a toy than a game. This is a fair description, as calling this a ‘city builder’ game feels a little off.

The building and designing side of the genre is very much represented here, but the management aspects aren’t. But anyway, let's talk about what Townscaper is, rather than what it isn’t. It’s a town design tool which is very simple to use but allows for some incredible complexity in your creations.

To build your town, select a colour and click to place a building segment onto the grid. Right click to remove it. That’s it. And yet using this simple interface you can create sprawling towns and precarious skyscrapers. This is a passion project created by a single developer.

It uses context aware assets to adapt the blocks that have been placed into something that makes sense relative to the surrounding blocks. As you build, more of what you have already constructed will fluidly adapt to what you put down next. The buildings and pathways morph and change very satisfyingly and each time you place a block it is accompanied by very satisfying thumps and splooshes.

I adore the visual style, bold colours and stylised cartoonish designs are always a favourite of mine The number of ways that the buildings change to adapt to what is placed around them is incredible. I’ve played with it for some time and I’m sure there are many configurations I’ve yet to think of.

The possibilities are huge even with such a small toolbox and I’ve been able to build things that look so different from one another. The developer has stated recently that he is looking into updating the game over time with new features, but as he’s working alone this is going to take time.

Things that are being considered are other architectural styles, animals and people moving through the towns, larger build areas and landscaping tools such as beaches and hills. This will definitely be an interesting one to keep an eye on. I have already sunk quite a few hours into building towns in Townscaper.

It’s just very satisfying and works like a mindfulness exercise for me. I used to doodle town maps in a similar way and it really scratches that itch. I can see this being a regular relaxation exercise for me and I cannot recommend it enough. Townscaper has more than earned the Chill Out Seal of Approval.