ShantyTown Preview: Cozy Vibes | PAX East 2026

In ShantyTown, I play as a surveyor sent to different areas to design homes and businesses. What starts as simply placing objects quickly turns into a fun, relaxing experience where my creativity can really run wild.

The demo drops me into my first area to survey: an island with a light tower standing at its center. I’m limited to a small circular space, marked by a soft wisp of mist around the playable area. Within that space, I can stack buildings on top of each other, and it quickly becomes clear that the restriction is there to teach me the mechanics rather than limit my creativity.

As I place buildings, whether they’re homes or businesses, each one has specific requirements, like lights, doors, windows, shrubbery, and more. Meeting those needs earns me bonuses. It’s not required, but it adds a nice layer of goals to what is otherwise a cozy, open-ended experience.

There are also overarching goals, like completing the requirements for a certain number of buildings. These aren’t required, but for completionists, it’s a nice feature.

One of the things that stood out to me was how the buildings adjust based on where I place them. If I stack one on top of another, it fits seamlessly, but lowering it just a bit creates a balcony instead. Rotating and shifting placements changes the overall shape, turning each structure into something unique.

I found myself spending a few minutes on each decision, tweaking placements until everything felt just right, and the final result looked amazing. Once I finished my masterpiece, I took a picture to show it off.

ShantyTown is a game I can easily see myself sinking a lot of time into. There’s something therapeutic about the experience, and I’m already looking forward to spending more time with it.

The game releases on April 16. Make sure to wishlist it today.