We Love It's Guide to…
Arrange buildings and decor in cramped urban dioramas, upgrade structures with nearby utilities, and photograph each finished site.
Released 16 Apr 2026
Stack Shanty Buildings
Upgrade With Utilities
Fit Cramped Spaces
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. Try your hand at shaping a cozy little town that is unique to you.
Developed by Erik Rempen · Published by Kinephantom Games








You survey a series of improvised urban districts by building miniature scenes in locations such as marshes, hillsides, and tightly packed neighborhoods. Once a site is ready, you photograph it and add it to your dossier before moving on.
Each guided stage gives you a limited space and a selection of buildings and decorative objects to place. Meet buildings’ needs with nearby light, utilities, and decor to upgrade them, unlock further objects, and complete optional or stage-specific goals.
Progress through distinct locations and collect objects for Creative Mode, where you can build more freely on unlocked maps or in a large blank space. Stages can also be revisited, letting you rework a layout or frame new photographs of your creations.
Many supplied reviewers enjoy the relaxed pace and the balance of open-ended decorating with light placement puzzles and goals. They often praise the building-upgrade loop, distinctive visuals, and calming music, as well as seeing completed scenes recur across the wider world. Some reviewers find the campaign short or report fiddly object placement and camera controls.
Get ready to build upwards, fill the smallest gaps, and find clever ways to place light sources or decorations that breathe life into every corner.
This is a world where every balcony, interesting poster, and plant tells a story. And you’re the one organising it!

This game is inspired by my love for densely built cities around the world, which is why I packed in 20 distinct locations for you to explore, 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 high, 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.



| Platforms | Windows, macOS |
|---|---|
| Achievements | 21 |
| Age ratings |
|
| Controller support | Xbox |
| Controller required | No |
| Demo | View demo on Steam |
| DLC / extras | 1 listed on Steam |
| Metacritic | 83/100 View on Metacritic |
| Website | Official website |