Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗ShantyTown
Erik Rempen · Published by Kinephantom Games · Official site ↗
Very Positive — 98% positive (462 reviews) · Metacritic 83 · 21 achievements
Last updated 27 Sept 2026
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.
£12.79
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Price history
Indie, Simulation, Casual · 2026 · More £5 - £15 games
Dive into ShantyTown and craft your own urban oasis. With Erik Rempen’s touch, this casual simulation lets you stack buildings and bring life to every nook and cranny, creating a town uniquely yours in the year 2026.
About this game
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 organizing 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 hide, 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.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 10+
- Processor: Dual Core CPU, Intel i5 or better
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: 512MB VRAM, OpenGL 3.0 support
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Have Fun!
Supported Languages
Latest news
AnnouncementsOfficial
Building Comp 21: "Just One Building"
Hello ShantyTowners!This time we're doing a new competition idea that was recommended by a community member, MyriaDonkey, a "Single Building Challenge"Building Competition 21: "Just One Building"I put out a call for some new building competition ideas and their idea was to do your best with just one building, and I think that sounds fun! With just one upgradable object, can you make a beautiful scene that tells a story?Here's my example above.How It WorksTheme: "Just One Building"Just place a single building and decorate it however you like and post 1-3 images and a little description to the #submissions channel on the Discord. We'll do a community vote based on how many trophy emojis your submission gets!What Are The Rules? Post your submission before Sunday, September 20th (2 weeks from this post) Only one submission per person Build in creative or story mode on any map! (but only 1 building!)My example submission looks a bit lonely, can you make something more captivating?What Are The Prizes?The winner of this competition get's a soundtrack key and will have their name immortalized in the game forever!Last Competition's WinnerThe last competition "Casino" had humble number of submissions, but in the end MrFrostHeigh took the grand prize with his nightmare of neon tower titled "Neon Hell Island". Check out this monstrosity:What do you think?Want To Join?Please do! Everyone's welcome! If you don't have ShantyTown already, get it here:Then, head over to to the Discord channel and submit your photo along with a brief in-world description of your location in the #Submissions channel!The competition ends after 2 weeks! (September 20th)!Hint: Use your one building's wall space carefully. Also, pick your wall style!Read full article on Community Announcements (SilkSoftworks)AnnouncementsOfficial
Building Comp 20: "Casino"
Hello ShantyTowners!The last competiton "Fishing" had some clever ways to put the poles to the water. Check out the winning creation by Ruruie on their so-called "Secret 21st Map" Do you know where in Westmarsh this was built?So what's the new theme? This week, it's just one word again:Building Competition 20: "Casino"There's an official location in ShantyTown that's called Hotpot Casino, it's a casino built out on stilts in the middle of the water. I think it's a great concept and I welcome you to make your own casino!My creation here is made using the Hotpot Casino's location items but your creation does NOT have to be at the Hotpot Casino level, you can build one anywhere you want!How It WorksTheme: "Casino"Just build something that seems casino related and post 1-3 images and a little description to the #submissions channel on the Discord. We'll do a community vote based on how many trophy emojis your submission gets!What Are The Rules? Post your submission before Sunday, September 6th (2 weeks from this post) Only one submission per person Build in creative or story mode on any map! (just try to make it casino related somehow)What Are The Prizes?The winner of this competition get's a soundtrack key and will have their name immortalized in the game forever!Want To Join?Please do! Everyone's welcome! If you don't have ShantyTown already, get it here:Then, head over to to the Discord channel and submit your photo along with a brief in-world description of your location in the #Submissions channel!The competition ends after 2 weeks! (September 6th)!Hint: You can unlock most of the casino related items on the Hotpot Casino map. What a concept!Read full article on Community Announcements (SilkSoftworks)AnnouncementsOfficial
Building Comp 19: "Fishing"
Hello ShantyTowners!Last week's "Bathhouse" competition had some nice little spots, here's the winner from Discord, MyriaDonkey's Smokestack Springs:So what's the new theme? This week, it's just one word:Building Competition 19: "Fishing"There's a lot of water in the world of ShantyTown, and a lot of implied fishing, so I thought it could be a good source of inspiration!So let's make something on a dock, on a boat, a restaurant, up to you! Note: There ARE fishing poles that can be unlocked at the Seafood Market!How It WorksTheme: "Fishing"Just build something that seems fishing related and post 1-3 images and a little description to the #submissions channel on the Discord. We'll do a community vote based on how many trophy emojis your submission gets!What Are The Rules? Post your submission before Sunday, August 23th (2 weeks from this post) Only one submission per person Build in creative or story mode on any map! (just try to make it fishing related somehow)What Are The Prizes?The winner of this competition get's a soundtrack key and will have their name immortalized in the game forever!Want To Join?Please do! Everyone's welcome! If you don't have ShantyTown already, get it here:Then, head over to to the Discord channel and submit your photo along with a brief in-world description of your location in the #Submissions channel!The competition ends after 2 weeks! (August 23rd)!Hint: You can unlock fishing poles from the Seafood Market!There is also a little update that should help with how some graphics card's water looks!Read full article on Community Announcements (SilkSoftworks)Patch NotesOfficial
Patch 1.04.07
Hi there!Some changes, I've had reports of "flashing water" on some graphics cards, I hope this fixes that!Patch Notes:Version 1.04.07Changes:Added a Overall Quality Slider that should help those with lower graphics settings have non-flashing waterAdded some names from the winners of the building competitionAdded a accidentally hidden shop typeMoved fishing rods to the Shop Items creative categoryPlease share any issues you find on the #BugReports channel on Discord!-ErikRead full article on Community Announcements (SilkSoftworks)AnnouncementsOfficial
Building Comp 18: "Bathhouse"
Hello ShantyTowners!Last week's "Rooftops" had some nice little spots, here's the winner from Discord, MyriaDonkey's Pumphouse Rooftop:So what's the new theme? This week, I want to try something different and ask ShantyTown creators to build something the game has within it!Building Competition 18: "Bathhouse"One of the last locations you visit in ShantyTown, and the last chapter of the game (spoiler alert! :D (not really)) is the Temple Bathhouse inspired by Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away, I wanted to make a vertical bathhouse location.Time for you to build your own Bathhouse! It can at the designated "Temple Bathhouse" location, or anywhere else. Up to you!How It WorksTheme: "Bathhouse"Just build something that seems bathhouse-y and post 1-3 images and a little description to the #submissions channel on the Discord. We'll do a community vote based on how many trophy emojis your submission gets!What Are The Rules? Post your submission before Sunday, August 9th (2 weeks from this post) Only one submission per person Build in creative or story mode on any map! (just try to make it bathhouse related somehow)What Are The Prizes?The winner of this competition get's a soundtrack key and will have their name immortalized in the game forever!Want To Join?Please do! Everyone's welcome! If you don't have ShantyTown already, get it here:Then, head over to to the Discord channel and submit your photo along with a brief in-world description of your location in the #Submissions channel!The competition ends after 2 weeks! (August 9th)! Hint: The bathhouse map, and a few of the items are unlocked in Chapter 8!Read full article on Community Announcements (SilkSoftworks)
