Townscaper Reviews
This is an art toy to savour, and a time-waster of great power.
A pleasant toy for building your own idyllic seaside getaways.
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.
Not so much a game as an interactive toy, Townscaper is just a different sort of experience that people will likely either adore or hate...
Townscaper VR is one of the first sandbox titles to appear on the Oculus Store. While there could be more to it, simply being in the marketplace is one step ahead of competitors. Despite feeling like it lacked a bit of content, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. It still gives Meta Quest 2 users a rare treat.
Townscaper is about this one thing: Take your time to build your city. Those cities are colorful and full of details. A game as relaxed as it can be. Just a little bit of life is missing from its creations.
Review in German | Read full review
Townscaper is the grown-up equivalent of the latest children’s toy that all the kids are all playing with a Fidget Spinner. It is calming, relaxing, refreshing, and gives you creative control over the world you choose to make or just mess around with. I don’t have any niggles with the game, other than I think the addition of having little people appear on the paths that are created would be wonderful. I realise Townscaper will not be a game all gamers will like, but if you are curious you should at least give it a try.
Townscaper is the perfect game if you’re looking for a way to relax and unwind while flexing your creative muscles. The mechanics may be limited, but the game itself is absolutely limitless. Townscaper is like a nice warm batch of cookies from grandma, and I can already tell I will be returning quite often to the comforts I found while playing.
Townscaper is minimalist in every sense of the word — minimalist gameplay, minimalist UI, minimalist sound — but the sheer amount of potential hidden within this title defies its style. If you’re looking for a new obsession or a nice little title to play during lunch breaks or just before bed, Townscaper is the soothing sandbox town-builder that will do the trick. The town-building aspect may be instantaneous, but you’ll soon learn you spend an awful lot of time discovering all the little signs of life that spring up along the way.