Town to City Early Access Preview (PC) – If You Build It, They Will Come
I do like a town builder. From the earliest days of Sim City to modern masterpieces such as Civilization, ANNO 1888 and, to a lesser extent, the ‘Planet’ series, they scratch an itch in my brain when I want to relax and plays something with low stakes and chill vibes. There are plenty of games like this nowadays, the ‘cosy’ genre is stuffed full of chillout, after work experiences, but none have a similar pull to me as town sims do. You’re always working towards something, whilst simultaneously expanding what you’ve already created. There’s a certain zen to its mechanics that sit with me when needed. Enter Town to City.
A little while ago I reviewed a delightful little game called Station to Station, a voxel, stylised simulator where you were tasked with placing railways between stations in order ot connect the businesses in your towns. It was great, and I was itching to see what developer Galaxy Grove was going to do next. Town to City answers that question, and they’ve taken what they do best to a whole new level.
Several hours into Town to City I realise that I’ve been playing it for far too long, and need to probably return to my actual existence. The town I had built from the ground up was thriving. The townspeople are happy, enjoying the serenity and simplicity of my little town, the sun blaring upon their houses every single day and the world I had built for them elegant and untroublesome. A life away from the world right now, perhaps that’s how Town to City got its hooks in me. Very few fascists in Town to City, which has to be admired.
What Town to City offers is beyond what I was expecting from trailers and what I had read up about it. The difficulty spikes, but you’re eased into it. Your first town, Belvau (which you can rename if you wish), is effectively your tutorial, taking you through each mechanic step by step, before you upgrade to the escalated Fontebrac, where additional mechanics and worries are introduced. Again, the game is terrific at allowing you to enjoy the experience at your own pace, and whilst it’s certainly trickier than Belvau, allows you to feel far more accomplished.
There’s no set grid either. You’re probably used to cosy town builders built on grid systems, allowing you to put your houses, amenities and warehouses in certain areas. Town to City does away with this, giving you the freedom to truly create something wholly unique and more in line with your own personal stylings. Your canvas is essentially a big ol’ field where you’re free to place anything you want anywhere you want (so long as the warehouse can provide to the local shops). It’s liberating and gives those you look for a creative spark in games like this something to be excited by.
My towns began to look like giant circles, with a great big warehouse drop dead in the middle, like the Isle of Wight and its enormous frikkin’ Tesco Extra slap bang in the middle of the island serving everyone (seriously, you should look it up, it looks like a spaceship just landed there). Being able to create a multitude of different towns was a huge draw to this one, and it allowed me to feel more at ease with the mechanics as they began to pile on in the later stages.
It’s a truly customisable experience, catered to your own tastes and wants. Particularly in Sandbox mode, where everything is unlocked and you can just create the metropolis of your dreams if you so wish. .You’ll be given access to all five available maps, and I would argue this is a great way to experience what the game has to offer before you head into the main campaign. You’ll notice glorious little flourishes as you’re enabled to decorate your towns to please the townsfolk. Flower patches become window ornaments if you hover your mouse towards windows, or lily pads when near water. There are a ton of neat little touches like this that will only add to the vibrance and character of your town.
And the visuals pop off the monitor, too. Much like Station to Station before it, the voxel visuals delight with beautiful lighting and stunning ambience. It’s difficult to vault how the game looks and performs. I’ve had no issues so far (GeForce 3060, 24gb RAM), even as your towns get bigger and start to flourish into cities, my laptop didn’t bulk under the pressure. Unlike say, in Two Point games. Another series I love, but has some worrying memory consumption issues).
It’s difficult to fault Town to City, which, as someone reviewing the game, is a little problematic. It doesn’t currently support controller input, though I’m not sure why you would want it in a game like this, even if you’re more used to a camera being on the right stick rather than your mouse. Erm, yeah. Huh.
As it stands Town to City is a gloriously ambitious, imaginative and hugely exciting prospect. As it’s currently in Early Access there’s still a whole lot more to come (including pets. Best be able to pet them) and seasonal themed decorations, and as mentioned the game already runs exceptionally well. I look forward to seeing what’s to come for this one.
Galaxy Grove have done it again. They’re starting to turn into one of my favourite developers. Their difficult second album has smashed it out of the park. I’m hugely excited to see what they come out with next.
Town to City is available now in Early Access on Steam.
Developer: Galaxy Grove
Publisher: Kwalee
Disclaimer: In order to complete this preview, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.
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