Town to City Review: The Cozy Builder That Finally Let Me Stop Hating City Builders

In an era of broken Early Access launches, a cozy city builder has arrived that feels more polished than most full-release games. It's a goddamn miracle.

Let me be clear: I have come to despise most city builders. They've become joyless spreadsheet simulators, forcing you to create dystopian, hyper-efficient grids just to keep the numbers in the green. So when I loaded up Town to City, I was fully prepared to hate it.

Instead, I looked up from my monitor and realized it was 4 AM on a work night. This game isn't just good; it's a dangerously addictive and beautifully crafted experience that has completely shattered my cynicism for the entire genre.

A Tale of Two Modes

The game gives you two ways to play: a structured campaign and a free-form sandbox mode. The campaign eases you in, starting you on the gentle map of Belvue before moving you to Fontebrac, where more complex systems like farming and a deeper economy are introduced. You'll get quests from your residents that reward you with unique decorative items you can't get anywhere else, which is a nice touch.

Sandbox mode, on the other hand, just throws you the keys to the kingdom. It gives you access to five different maps, each with its own geographical challenge. Ventelieu is a perfectly flat canvas for your masterpiece, while Montedeux is dominated by two massive mountains, forcing you to build creatively in the valley between them.

The Tyranny of Freedom

The game's biggest selling point is its truly grid-less building system, and it is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it's liberating. You can finally build organic, winding towns that look like actual places people would want to live, not just hyper-efficient commuter grids.

On the other hand, this freedom can be a nightmare for a perfectionist like me. I spent more time than I'd care to admit trying to lay down perfectly parallel roads, only to realize they were slightly askew, turning my neat neighborhood into a row of mangled teeth. Benches won't sit perfectly flush against a wall. It will test you. My advice? Let go. The game is infinitely more fun when you embrace the beautiful, chaotic messiness it's designed for.

ThE Magic Flower Box

Where the game truly ascends to greatness is in its customization. The system is so clever it feels like magic. The best example is the simple flower patch item. Hover it over a window, and it becomes a window box. Line it up against a wall, and it transforms into a hanging flower garland. Place it in the water, and it becomes a cluster of lily pads.

This single mechanic opens up a level of creative expression that most other city builders can only dream of. It had me obsessively unlocking every new decorative item in the research tree, just to see what new transformations I could discover. It's brilliant.

A Polished, but Finite, Utopia

What's shocking is how polished this all is for an Early Access title. The game is incredibly stable and well-optimized with no performance issues even in bigger cities.

The only real knock against the game right now is replayability. The maps aren't procedurally generated, so each playthrough on a given map will feel largely the same. However, with about 20-25 hours of solid gameplay across all the maps, you're still getting incredible value for your money.

The Verdict

Town to City is a triumph. It’s a beautiful, polished, and deeply satisfying city builder that absolutely nails the "cozy" feeling without sacrificing engaging gameplay. It respects the player's creativity in ways that are genuinely innovative, even if the freedom of its grid-less system takes some getting used to.

This is, without a doubt, one of the best Early Access launches I have ever witnessed. It’s a must-play for anyone who has ever been burned out by the cold mechanics of traditional city builders. Now if you'll excuse me, my little voxel people need a new park.

Score: 9.2/10 A city builder so creative it will force you to abandon your perfectionist tendencies.

We at NLM received a key for this game for free, this however didn't impact our review in any way.