ShantyTown News

Want to build cozy urban environments? Well, you're in the right spot.



[h2]What is ShantyTown?[/h2]
ShantyTown is a relaxing urban diorama building game with a bit of a twist. Unlike other casual creation games, ShantyTown guides you with objectives and a curated set of objects to place at each location. While you play, you'll be discovering what the location is! Could it be a dockside tea house, a nightlife district or seafood market?

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Jump into the first few missions of this demo and feel the vibes for yourself!

[h2]What's in the Demo?[/h2]

The ShantyTown Demo includes 5 maps including 2 major destinations and 3 minor ones.

The Welcome Pier: Learn how to play the game in this tutorial level

The Shrine: Just a bit of fun in the grass before the real game starts

The Lighthouse: Stack your houses, cafes and restaurants on this tiny peninsula above the water below

Crosswaters: A stopover point for boat traffic and a hub to many other locations

Marshlands Pipe: Built into the side of a transportation tunnel, this is a nightlife district soaked in neon lights

[h2]How Can I Help?[/h2]

Want to help shape the development of ShantyTown for the better? That would be wonderful!

I'm a solo developer and I need all the help I can get.
The best way you can improve this game is to join the Discord server and share your thoughts with me directly there.

Otherwise, there's a feedback form at the end of each level. Please share your honest opinions! I'd love to hear them.

Thanks for the support and I hope you enjoy ShantyTown!
-Dev

That's right!
[h2]ShantyTown will be joining the Steam Next Fest![/h2]

The cozy urban building game where you place objects one at a time to create dense urban dioramas is coming to your keyboard. And Mouse.



And that means, there's a demo available right now!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3701340/ShantyTown_Demo/

This is the first time that ShantyTown has gone public so I'd love it if you could share your feedback, thoughts, opinions and creations on the Discord

Look forward to future updates as they come in!
I hope you enjoy it :)
-Dev

I'm excited to finally share the reveal trailer of ShantyTown with you!

Without further ado, here it is!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Let me know what you think and share a comment either here or on the video on YouTube!

ShantyTown has been in steady development for two years now, which sounds as crazy to me as it does to you. Without being specific yet, I'm planning on a full release sometime this year!

I'm really looking forward to this next chapter of development, excited to see what you create and discover, and excited for the future of ShantyTown!

That's all for now, take care!
-Dev

Who doesn't love miscellaneous seafood? Possibly fished from a marsh? Mmm Tasty...
This is one of the intermediate locations that is not required and not even on a path to other required stops so it's totally optional. The main reward for visiting this location is seeing unique content.

[h2]Adding Music?[/h2]
That's right, I'm working on a music system in ShantyTown that adjusts based on how you're playing. Right now the only location with an available musical track is the Lighthouse map, please check it out and let me know what you think!

As usual I'll also be adding a few more people to the playtest so if you get the email, welcome!
Please try it out and let me know what you think!



If you want to learn more about the playtest, check out the event.

Please share general feedback here and more map specific feedback here and bug reports here.

[h2]Changes:[/h2]

• Updated all pages of the dossier
  
• Added music at the Lighthouse
  
• Esc now cancels placement
  
• Testing a new “rewards” system when upgrading buildings
  
• Added new "unique" items
  

[h2]Fixes:[/h2]

• Hopefully fixed some placement issues at Shanty Town
  

Thanks for joining the playtest of ShantyTown!
-Erik

Yes, that's right, the map has the same name as the game!
But this was the map that inspired the game itself, before the entire world was built. You can see a bit more of what the game looked like before the world was added in this devlog.

I'll also be adding a few more people to the playtest so if you get the email, welcome!
Please try it out and let me know what you think!



If you want to learn more about the playtest, check out the event.

Please share general feedback here and more map specific feedback here and bug reports here.

[h2]Changes:[/h2]

• Hold rotate buttons to do precise rotations
  
• Added descriptions to the items you pick up at the start
  
• You can sign completed pages
  

[h2]Fixes:[/h2]

• Fixed some box size issues on some objects when changing shape
  

Thanks for joining the playtest of ShantyTown!
-Erik