A Cozy Game that Makes You Slow Down

With the meteoric rise of cozy games recently, it’s only fitting that a new one would come out that really emphasizes what cozy games are all about. ShantyTown is a short game that lets you engage with it however you want, which is really rare but also incredibly fun.

I got a chance to play ShantyTown at PAX East and wrote a little preview of my time with it, but now that I’ve had my hands on it for a lot more time, I think I’ve learned a lot more about it. For starters, the game has an atmosphere that really just sucks you right in, but more than that, the game just feels relaxing and enjoyable to play.

If you enjoy putting up wallpaper and arranging knick-knacks, there are more than a few games that you’ll like.

There isn’t a lot to write about ShantyTown, but what’s there is something special that I certainly wasn’t anticipating. I didn’t put much time into ShantyTown, mostly because it’s a pretty short game, but the time I did spend on it felt meaningful. Also, the game began to steal time from me quickly as I realized I was playing differently than I originally intended.

What is ShantyTown?

ShantyTown is a cozy town builder game where you’ll move from location to location, setting up various small towns within the confines of the location. Some are large and open, while others are small and require a bit of finesse to make work. Through it all, you’re attempting to create a survey of these locations in the hopes of either shutting it all down or letting it stand.

It’s got a fairly unique style of playing things out. Each location has objectives for you to complete. Although they’re completely optional, they can give you some good direction on how you should build things. Beyond that, it’s entirely up to you how you want to set up the location and where you want to place everything.

You’ll receive a randomized set of objects to place. Well, at least in a randomized order, but they’ll be mostly the same type of items, so objectives are completable. Houses, stores, and special buildings all have requirements that need to be met for them to go from something rundown to something well-made.

Upgrade buildings, complete objectives, and discover some rare objects from each location that can be used in the creative mode. When you finally finish a location, you’ll grab a snapshot of it in all its glory. You don’t have to finish the objectives to get the snapshot; you just need to put down enough objects, so the look and design of each location is totally in your hands.

Sneaky Game Design That Absorbs You

In terms of cozy games, I usually don’t put much stock in them or really invest myself in doing more than I have to. I like to check off boxes and move on to the next thing, but ShantyTown managed to get me invested in a way I never really thought I could be. It wasn’t complex or difficult, but nonetheless, I found myself trying to set up each location in a meaningful way.

Now, this wasn’t always possible because sometimes I would put things in silly places, mostly for the fun of it, but as the levels got a bit longer, I took a little more care with where I placed things. I tried to group homes and businesses separately and place some of the unnecessary objects in spots I felt like made sense.

It didn’t serve a greater purpose than my own amusement, but that was something that stuck with me. I realized I’d been placing objects almost to the end of the level when I could’ve moved on much earlier. It might seem like a silly thing, but getting lost in a game like this is always a nice bonus, especially when the game is fairly short.

These games deliver full, satisfying experiences in under four hours.

A Strange Kind of Artistry

This game isn’t particularly striking from a visual standpoint. It doesn’t have some crazy high-resolution buildings or have any kind of realistic feel to it, but that doesn’t stop it from being something really beautiful. Each location starts almost entirely barren and with virtually nothing there to speak of.

As you place objects and grow the small towns into something larger, they become colorful and filled with all kinds of life, even if there aren’t any people in them yet. It really inspires you to try and make something not just functional, but something meaningful. It provides you with the freedom to shape the towns however you want, and you can even change the color and shape of almost every object to suit your needs.

I like to check off boxes and move on to the next thing, but ShantyTown managed to get me invested in a way I never really thought I could be.

Looking back at all the photos I managed to collect from the locations, it is a pretty odd thing when I remember how those locations started. I may not be the best at determining how these things should look, but they really started to come together as I moved from location to location. It was almost as if each area started as a blank canvas for me to paint on, whether it was a disaster or something beautiful.

Not Without Problems

The game has a lot of positive aspects for sure, but it still feels like some things are missing or a little clunky at times. None of these issues are game-breaking or make you want to stop playing, but they certainly feel noticeable after playing for a few hours. They won’t prevent enjoyment, but they do make you stop and think.

There is a small barrier around each location, and you can place buildings virtually along the barrier as much as you want. The thing you can’t do is upgrade them after you put them there. For instance, if you want to put a window on the backside that sits outside the barrier, the game literally will not allow it.

It might seem like a silly thing, but getting lost in a game like this is always a nice bonus, especially when the game is fairly short.

Special items can be earned by upgrading buildings at a location, but these seem to be a bit random. I don’t believe that’s intended, but regardless, it did feel a little odd that it seemed up to RNG whether you’d get the special item or not. Definitely annoying, but not something worth getting upset over.

This isn’t necessarily a problem, but it did feel like the towns felt a little empty after you were done. They are brimming with color and life, but don’t have any people walking through or anything. I think potentially adding in some little people, even if they’re just small low-poly bodies with heads, would make the locations feel more alive once you finish them.

2024 proved cozy gaming isn’t just farming—it’s adventure, puzzles, and stories that stay with you long after the credits roll.

Player Freedom That Matters

For some cozy titles, you’re a little limited in how things get set up because of the confines of the game or systems in use, and while in some ways ShantyTown is the same, it also provides a great degree of freedom that I truly enjoyed. Stacking houses into the sky, putting neon signs in strange places, or maybe even placing an aquarium on top of a building, these were all things I was free to do at each location.

Did doing those things help me? Sometimes. Were they all enjoyable? Absolutely. Having that sort of freedom was incredible, even if in some situations it ended up costing me an upgraded building or two. The towns are players’ creations, and however they’d like to set them up is more than okay.

That kind of freedom isn’t rare in these games, but I thought the design of it in ShantyTown was an excellent touch. At the end of the day, none of the choices I made really mattered because each location could be cleared without doing any of the things I did. It really got me thinking about how I made the choice to play the game that way, and simply offered me a medium to do it.

ShantyTown is a cozy game that can easily make you lose track of time as you set up each location however you like. It isn’t this big game that you’ll play for hours on end, but it is a game that you’ll feel really honors the time you spend with it. This is a game you can play in one evening, or for hours if you want to dive that deep. It’s fun, well-made, and gorgeous when you finish a location. ShantyTown is a cozy town builder you can enjoy at your own pace, and that’s something incredible.