A Cool Game That Makes You Slow Down

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With the meteoric rise of cozy games lately, it’s only fitting that a new one comes out that really emphasizes what cozy games are all about. ShantyTown a short game that allows you to engage with it as much as you want, which is 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 more time, I think I’ve learned a lot about it. First, the game has an atmosphere that just sucks you in, but more than that, the game is just so relaxing and fun to play.

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There isn’t much to write about ShantyTown, but there is something special that I didn’t expect. I didn’t put a lot of time into ShantyTown, mostly because it’s a very short game, but the time I spent on it felt meaningful. Also, the game started stealing my time quickly as I realized that I was playing differently than I originally intended.

What is ShantyTown?

ShantyTown is a cozy city builder game where you will move from place to place, setting up various small towns within the boundaries of the place. Some are large and open, while others are small and require finesse to get the job done. All in all, you are trying to survey these areas in hopes of closing them or letting them stand.

It has a unique style of playing things. Each area has objectives for you to complete. Although they are completely optional, they can give you good guidance on how to build things. Besides, it’s completely up to you how you want to set up the space and where you want to put everything.

You will get a random set of items to place. Well, at least in random order, but they will be the same kind of things, so the objectives are fulfilled. Houses, shops, and specialty buildings all have requirements that need to be met in order to go from something to something well-made.

Upgrade buildings, complete objectives, and find certain rare items in each area that can be used in creative mode. When you finally finish the place, you will take a snapshot of all its glory. You don’t have to complete the objectives to get the summary; you just need to put down enough things, so that the appearance and design of each area is completely in your hands.

Deceptive Game Design That Catches You

As for casual games, I usually don’t put too much stock in them or invest in them by doing more than I have to. I like to check boxes and move on to the next one, but ShantyTown managed to invest me in a way I never thought I could be. It wasn’t complicated or difficult, but still, I found myself trying to set up each area in a logical way.

Now, this wasn’t always possible because sometimes I put things in places that didn’t make sense, mostly for fun, but as the levels got longer, I took more care in where I put things. I tried to group homes and businesses separately and put some of the unnecessary things in places that I felt made sense.

It served no greater purpose than my entertainment, but that was something that stuck with me. I realized that I kept putting things near the end of a level where I couldn’t progress before. It might seem silly, but losing in a game like this is always a nice bonus, especially when the game is short.

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A Strange Form of Art

This game isn’t too shocking an idea. It doesn’t have crazy high resolution buildings or a realistic feel to it, but that doesn’t stop it from being a really good thing. Each area starts out almost empty and with nothing to speak of.

As you place objects and grow small towns into something bigger, they become colorful and filled with all kinds of life, even if they are uninhabited yet. It really inspires you to try and make something not just work, but something meaningful. It gives you the freedom to shape cities the way you want, and you can even change the color and shape of everything to suit your needs.

I like to check boxes and move on to the next one, but ShantyTown managed to invest me in a way I never thought I could be.

When I look back at all the pictures I have been able to collect from places, it is strange when I remember how those places started. I may not be the best at deciding what these things should look like, but they started to come together as I moved from place to place. It was as if each scene started as a blank canvas for me to paint on, whether it was a tragedy or something beautiful.

Not Without Problems

The game has a lot of good features for sure, but it still feels like some things are missing or stuck at times. None of these issues break the game or make you want to stop playing, but they do feel noticeable after playing for a few hours. They won’t stop you from being happy, but they will make you stop and think.

There is a small barrier around each area, and you can place buildings as close to the barrier as you want. What you can’t do is improve yourself after putting yourself out there. For example, if you want to put a window in the background that stays outside the barrier, the game won’t let you.

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

Special items can be obtained by upgrading buildings in the area, but these seem to be random. I don’t believe that was intended, but regardless, it felt weird that it seemed to be up to the RNG as to whether or not you’d get something special. It’s really annoying, but it’s not something to be upset about.

This is not a problem, but it felt like the cities felt empty after you finished. They are full of color and life, but they don’t have people walking or anything. I think adding in some small people, even if they are small bodies with small poly heads, would make the areas feel more alive when you finish them.

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Important Player Freedom

In some cozy titles, you’re a little limited in how things are set up due to the game’s limitations or the systems used, and while in some ways ShantyTown is similar, it also offers a greater degree of freedom that I really enjoyed. Stacking houses in the sky, putting neon signs in unusual places, or maybe putting an aquarium on top of a building, these were all things I was free to do in each place.

Did doing those things help me? Sometimes. Was everyone happy? Definitely. Having that kind of freedom was incredible, or in some cases it ended up costing me an advanced build or two. Villages are the creation of players, and even then they would like to set them more than just.

That kind of freedom is rare in these games, but I thought the design of it in ShantyTown was a great thing. At the end of the day, none of the choices I made mattered because each area could be cleared without doing any of the things I did. It made me really think about how I made the choice to play the game that way, and he just gave me a way to do it.

ShantyTown is a fun game that can easily make you lose track of time as you arrange each area to your liking. It’s not this big game that you’ll play for hours on end, but it’s a game that you’ll really appreciate the time you spend with it. This is a game you can play overnight, or for hours if you want to get that deep. It’s fun, it’s well done, and it’s great when you finish the place. ShantyTown is a cozy city builder that you can enjoy at your own pace, and that’s a wonderful thing.