Kinephantom Games and solo developer Erik Rempen of Silk Softworks announce that ShantyTown will be taking part in the upcoming PAX Rising Showcase at PAX East. The event will run from March 26th to 29th at the Thomas M. Menino Convention & Exhibition Center in Boston.
The showcase features a carefully curated selection of games on its show floor from some of the hottest upcoming indie titles of the year. Attendees of the event will be able to enjoy ShantyTown-specific goodies, play the full game ahead of release, and have a chance to talk with Erik himself at Booth 13097. For players following from home, the ShantyTown demo will still be available to try on Steam with a brand new update.
During Steam Next Fest February 2026, ShantyTown doubled its wishlist count and welcomed over 30,000 players to its demo, with creators and fans praising its cozy gameplay. The momentum carried over to its community Discord, doubling its size in just a few short days, where players can find sneak previews of the finished game alongside weekly contests and competitions to make use of the game’s free-form Creative Mode.
Community activity is also in full swing ahead of launch: ShantyTown is currently running its third weekly build competition on Discord, where players can submit themed builds using the game’s built-in Camera Mode and submit their best designs in the Discord contest channel for a chance to be immortalized in the game’s release with their name attached to a building, as well as an opportunity to win a key for the game’s full release and OST.
Free-Form Puzzles With No Wrong Answers
ShantyTown’s latest demo also introduces its new Creative Mode, which allows unrestricted access to all previously-unlocked buildings and decorations. Players can revisit any location they’ve already surveyed, or build their own sprawling community in a sandbox state.
That interplay between cozy, relaxing diorama-building and placing buildings in their place sets ShantyTown as unique compared to other cozy-gaming. Players balance filling sub-objectives to unlock bonus items with no real guardrails on the style of their build.
Key features
ShantyTown blends cozy creativity with dense, layered city design, inviting players to build around the tight spaces given. Other highlights include:
- 20 distinctive locations inspired by tightly packed urban environments, each offering new ways to experiment with the player’s creativity
- Over 150 unique decorations that allow players to shape their own idea of “lived-in” neighborhoods
- Your personal dossier that reflects completed towns across eight pages, like a charming miniature portfolio
- A handcrafted soundtrack by vaporwave artist Macroblank that accompanies players with different tunes and vibes
- In-depth camera tools that let players frame and photograph their completed towns from multiple perspectives.
