Make adorable, instant towns in Townscaper, out now in Steam Early Access

Serene town builder Townscaper has launched in Early Access over on Steam. Created by Bad North artist Oskar Stålberg, the landscape builder lets you plop down coloured blocks that are transformed into different houses, apartments, terraces, and towers. You can place blocks vertically and horizontally, creating your very own quaint seaside town.

The game's underlying algorithm chooses what your blocks turn into, and it's not just buildings. Arches, gardens, and stairways add flourishes to your cosy structures, accompanied by little embellishments that bring life to your town. Seagulls perch on rooftops, benches sprout next to walls, washing lines pop out from gardens, pot plants line the streets, and binocular lookouts perch on the edges of pathways making each town unbearably charming.

On Townscaper's Steam page, Stålberg describes the town-building sim as "more of a toy" and hopes that Early Access version will help him figure out its direction and future features. "I hope to see loads of screenshots of the fantastical creations the community builds with Townscaper," Stålberg says."This will help me get a sense of how people are using the toy and what aspects I should emphasize further in its development."

And he didn't have to wait long. Looking through the Townscaper hashtag, players have already created some amazing towns. Here are some of the best ones I've spotted on Twitter.

Townscaper is available now on Steam Early Access for $6/£5 and Stålberg estimates that it will hit full release in roughly four months.