ShantyTown Review
- Greg Ezell
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Comfy and beautiful
In a world where video games are seemingly more and more competitive, there has been a cry for more "cozy" style games. For those who aren't aware of what "cozy" games are, they are defined as a video game designed to evoke feelings of comfort and relaxation by emphasizing non-violent, low-stakes gameplay, often featuring tasks like crafting, gathering and social simulation. Popular examples of this are Animal Crossing New Horizons and Stardew Valley, two mega hits that have almost single-handedly defined the cozy gaming genre.
When PAX East 2026 rolled around, I received an email from a PR firm representing developer Erik Rempen asking if we would be interested in talking about ShantyTown. The firm gave me a key and I was able to play it, but unfortunately we couldn't make times align to get an interview in.
ShantyTown's description on Steam reads as follows:
ShantyTown is a relaxing diorama-building game about finding beauty in everyday chaos. Bring new locations to life, stack your urban buildings high, and fill each little nook and cranny with your own touch.
When I installed the game and first loaded it up, I didn't know if this was a game for me. While I am no stranger to cozy games (500+ hours on Animal Crossing New Horizons and 100+ hours just on my Steam version of Stardew Valley), I've never played something that just allowed me to build. Unlike games like Manor Lords where you have to also make sure your population is thriving, ShantyTown is just about the build itself.
I'm going to be very honest with you, at first, I struggled with the idea of ShantyTown. The idea of building a beautiful landscape but not having anyone interact with it was strange to me, but let me tell you how it finally clicked.
It was a long, frustrating day of work and I needed to unwind. I first looked at Schedule 1 and Retro Rewind and decided I didn't want the stress of running around selling product or dealing with annoying customers. I loaded up Monster Hunter Stories 3 and immediately turned it off because I didn't want to deal with finding eggs. I realized what I really wanted was vibes. I wanted something where I could hyperfocus on something without stress and let video games do exactly what they were intended to do: distract me.
ShantyTown does an incredible job allowing you to hyperfocus on creating a perfect little slice of life. It does this in a simple way, allowing you complete freedom to build however you'd like within the confines of the defined area. Despite this freedom, there are still caveats to putting your building together.
ShantyTown has objectives that are almost entirely optional. These objectives are things like "upgrade two buildings" or "don't build more than 2 stories high" which will help you toward upgrading a building. Upgrading a building gives you a rare object that is unlocked for creative mode. Not completing these objectives isn't a bad thing as ShantyTown allows you to build what you want, how you want in the parameters of what you're given.
What really locked me in was the soundtrack. While you're moving building and rotating objects, a mellow lo-fi soundtrack bumps softly, enhancing the cozy vibes this game strives for.
The one thing that turned me off is these cities are lifeless. There are no little sprites walking around once your build is complete. There is no real "life" to the cities you're putting together. Outside of that, however, ShantyTown scratched the cozy game itch that many games promise, but few deliver on. Unlike Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley, ShantyTown doesn't give you extra things to do that could stress you out. There's no relationship management, no traffic management, no farming, none of that. It is simply a beautifully sculpted builder that lays pieces out in front of you and says "Enjoy". And enjoy I did.
Disclaimer: I received this product for free, but it did not affect my review of this game.
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