Townscaper
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Critic Reviews for Townscaper
Oskar Stålberg has made a charming and compelling toy for imaginative play. Anyone willing to project themselves into its worlds and tell stories to themselves as they build will have a great time (although young kids might need assistance with the controls). Raw Fury claim to care about “experiences and emotions” not “genres or mechanics”. If that’s where your priorities lie, too, then give Townscaper a shot.
Townscaper is a nice little surprise. Based on simple, intuitive and effective gameplay, this game closer to the digital toy allows you to escape and relax for a few minutes that can quickly turn into hours.
Review in French | Read full review
Townscaper exists in that special chill vibe genre that includes games like digital coloring books and virtual bubble wrap, but it also nudges gently up against city builders as well, only without any of the complications or stress. It makes you feel like a creative, relaxed time traveler, bringing into existence a peaceful, little perfect town out in the middle of a perfectly calm sea. Townscaper doesn’t try to do a lot of things, instead it does one thing very, very well.
Townscaper offers little to keep players engaged and seemingly never will. I have to call it what it is, an early access Steam experiment trying to pass itself off as a full-fledged Switch release. Since the developer admits no DLC's on the horizon to address expected features that are MIA, this incomplete title's one to skip, even at just $5.99.
Townscaper is less of a game, more of a tool to simply play around with. It has no goal either, but that is part of its almost hypnotic charm at being an enjoyable experience that allows us to simply play around as we see fit.
You can make all sorts of island towns in [i]Townscaper[i]. Large and full of detail, small and cute, or messy piles of colourful rock. Your imagination is the limit… unless your boredom wins first. Oskar Stålberg's creation doesn't give you much to work with, and the end result always looks the same, no matter how extravagant and imaginative it is. As a whole, this is like a tiny sample of a meatier game. Fingers crossed for that ever becoming a reality, because it would then be a high recommendation.
