Town to City Review The Ultimate Cozy Grid Free City Builder
If you love the idea of city builders but often find yourself overwhelmed by traffic management, natural disasters, and complex economic spreadsheets, a new challenger has arrived to soothe your architectural soul. Town to City is a delightfully chill, 19th-century Mediterranean management sim developed by Galaxy (the team behind Station to Station).
The game costs 24.99 USD and currently awaits Early Access release which requires players to turn a small rural train station into a beautiful metropolitan area. The game offers two different experiences which lead players to explore its complete digital sandbox or its deep storytelling elements. The voxel based builder provides various features which we will investigate in this section.
The Voxel Art Style of Town to City creates an impressive visual experience. The Mediterranean aesthetic of the game combines colorful buildings with natural foliage and vibrant citizens. The game includes a day night system which shows impressive night time visual effects. The game features streetlights and window designs which create pleasant warm lights that players will use to take pictures in the dedicated Photo Mode of the game.
The game features visual elements which get enhanced by the French inspired music that creates a peaceful atmosphere. The small tracklist currently available perfectly matches the cozy atmosphere which players associate with their desire for baguettes. The game maintains its performance through all situations as it can handle more than 1000 citizens without any impact on your computer.
The game mechanics of Town to City require players to stop using grid based systems for building structures. Players can design their roadways according to their personal design preferences. The brush tool enables users to create straight streets and natural country paths and narrow passageways.
The train station functions as the foundation for your town development. New families arrive when the train comes at scheduled times. Each family members displays special attributes and personal objectives. Families differ in their housing preferences as some want to live near water while others prefer busy areas and some choose to live far from others except for natural surroundings. You must assign families to houses while their happiness increases when you meet their specific home placement wishes.
The game permits players to change their decisions without facing punishments because it differs from traditional simulators that impose strict penalties. You can move any building which appears wrong for free with one button click to any location you wish. The economic system of the game provides players with an interactive experience which permits them to freely explore its content.
You build warehouses to collect goods dropped off by the train which then distribute those goods to local markets butchers clothing stores and opticians. The rising population in your town creates higher demand for products which forces you to add more workers in order to boost output from existing buildings.
The Research Center functions as a progression control hub which features an observatory style design. The workers you assign to this location will produce research points which unlock new buildings and decorations and road upgrades. The upgrade from dirt roads to brick roads improves the visual appeal of your roads while increasing the transport distance capabilities of your warehouses.
You can construct buildings in vertical directions while keeping your development area under control. The added stories will cost 250 for the second floor and 500 for the third floor which allows houses to accommodate new families without occupying extra land space.
The system requires you to decorate your city using various items until you reach the threshold which maintains citizen happiness above 60% to bring in new residents. The system requires multiple parks to cover their designated radius which goes beyond simple park installation. The pixel perfect decoration system of Town to City enables precise decoration placement throughout the entire game.
You can place individual benches fences and fountains. The system allows decorations to attach themselves automatically to building structures. You can hang flower baskets from windows and place lights above doorways and line the sides of homes with vines. The randomize toggle provides a solution to users who want to create flower beds because it enables them to paint different flower patterns by using a single brush stroke.
The population in your town will create particular demands as your settlement develops into a hamlet and then into a village and finally into a city. A citizen will go to a bench to complain about a splinter and request you to replace the wooden benches with metal benches. A tailor might request the ability to sell red dresses. Kids might ask you to plant flowery bushes specifically for them to play hide and seek. You will receive cash rewards for completing these delightful small tasks.
The City Hall building enables you to set tax rates for the entire town after you finish constructing it. The game allows you to decrease taxes because money moves easily through the game world which boosts citizen satisfaction in your virtual town.
The game features its most ambitious element through its ability to connect multiple maps with each other. The game unlocks a new Farming Map when players upgrade their main city to its maximum level. You will concentrate your efforts on agricultural land which includes both crops and farm workers.
The research node named Global Stockpile enables you to create automatic trade pathways which transport crops from your farming area to your central city. The late game research enables players to create farms on their primary map through the Global Farming feature which becomes available after researching. (A third map is currently planned on the Early Access roadmap).
The game maintains 75 percent completion together with a 10 15 hour campaign which currently exists in its Early Access state. The following elements need improvement
- Save System The game depends on Steam Cloud saves which makes it impossible for players to handle their local saves or change their file names or create different versions of their city
- Clipping Collisions The City Hall building contains invisible barriers which stop players from placing paths or benches at the building outer edge
- Difficulty The game will not satisfy players who want to play a challenging strategy game. The game makes it almost impossible to destroy your economic system
Pros
- Players can create roads without any grid restrictions through freeform road design
- The decoration system delivers pixel perfect results which align perfectly with building structures
- The game features a beautiful voxel art style with day night lighting that changes throughout the game
- The game provides players with an extremely forgiving economy system which includes zero stress situations and no disasters
- The game enables players to trade between multiple maps through its unique multi map trade system
- Players have unlimited access to all costs involved with moving their buildings and redesigning their urban spaces
Cons
- Hardcore management strategy enthusiasts may find the game to become excessively easy
- Players experience difficulties with the cloud only save system which does not allow them to rename their files
- The game contains minor issues related to collision boxes which affect specific large buildings
- Players can finish the campaign in a short time frame of 10 15 hours according to the current EA version
The game Town to City provides players with an authentic and charming experience through its city building gameplay. The game removes traffic congestion and economic collapse as players experience the delight of creating paths and decorating their Mediterranean villa windows with flower baskets. The game lacks depth for strategy enthusiasts but players who enjoy building and creating detailed designs will find themselves spending many hours in this fun sandbox.
Pc Version Tested.
Disclosure: We received a free review copy of this product from Devs
