Town to City Review: A Gloriously Cozy City Builder

City builders are usually about logistics, budgets, and disaster management. Town to City throws all that out and keeps only the lovely part: placing pretty buildings and watching a charming town bloom. After its full 1.0 launch, here’s our honest take on one of the coziest builders around.

In short: if you’ve ever wanted the creative joy of a city builder without the stress of one, Town to City is a near-perfect cozy escape.

What is Town to City?

Town to City is a relaxed, gridless city builder from Dutch studio Galaxy Grove (published by Kwalee). Set in a stylised, sun-drenched, Mediterranean-inspired 19th century, it lets you place roads, houses, and decorations freely — no grid — so your towns grow into organic tangles of winding streets, plazas, and terraces. After launching in Early Access in late 2025, it reached 1.0 on May 26, 2026, adding a Tourism update with hotels, tour routes, new quests, and a fresh town.

It’s on PC via Steam, where it sits at a remarkable ~98% positive (Overwhelmingly Positive).

What it does brilliantly

• Gridless building is freeing. Curving a road or nestling a cottage exactly where you want it makes every town feel hand-made and personal — it’s deeply satisfying.
• Gorgeous, warm art. The Mediterranean palette, soft light, and cozy detail make your growing town a joy just to look at.
• Low-stress by design. There’s gentle progression (quests, jobs, tourism) but no failure spiral, no crime, no disasters — just calm, creative building.
• Beloved on Steam. That ~98% rating reflects how well it nails the cozy-builder fantasy.

Where it falls short

• PC only (for now). No console or handheld version yet — though it runs well on a Steam Deck.
• Light on deep simulation. If you want hardcore economy or logistics systems, this is intentionally gentler than a Cities: Skylines.
• Still growing. It’s a fresh 1.0; the content will keep expanding, but it’s not a decade-deep sandbox yet.

Who should buy Town to City?

Buy it if: you love building and decorating, you adored the freedom of Tiny Glade, or you want a calm, creative town builder to lose a relaxing evening in.

Maybe wait if: you crave deep city-management challenge, or you specifically want to play on console.

The verdict

Town to City understands that for a lot of us, the best part of a city builder was always making something pretty — and it delivers that beautifully, with none of the stress. It’s one of the most purely relaxing builders you can play right now.

Worth it? Yes — a gorgeous, gentle, creative delight.

More cozy reads

Love building? See our best cozy building & decorating games and the Tiny Glade review, or browse the 15 best cozy games of 2025. 🏘️