Tetris Towns: A Charming City Builder Revived Through Kickstarter

I enjoy a clever twist on Tetris. There might be Tetris with sand. Tetris with hot wax. Tetris but it is actually an interactive documentary covering the game’s 40-year history. And now, I excitedly discovered a game that is indeed ‘Tetris but city-building.’

River Cities is the name of the game where you jump between phases to “place differently shaped structures and fit them into a limited space.” These buildings are often shaped like Tetris blocks, making the challenge of placing them in the right spots part of the complete enjoyment.

“As the town expands, more residents move in, revitalizing this old and damaged world,” the game’s Steam description states. “Throughout the game, you encounter additional objectives, such as collecting gold, regrowing trees, and rebuilding ancient monuments. This dramatically alters the difficulty and potential for collecting points.”

For such an imaginative concept, developer Frogsong Studios faced challenges in reaching this stage of development. On Kickstarter, studio co-founder and lead artist Anders Thelin shares that they needed to expand almost entirely their team because, well, 2024 was an incredibly tough time for developers just trying to remain employed. It was during this period that Frogsong’s founders connected with indie publisher Stray Fawn and decided to seek crowdfunding to support the game’s completion.

Luckily, River Cities has already surpassed its $10,300 funding goal, raising nearly $13,000. This milestone means backers have unlocked a brand new stretch goal, allowing Frogsong to introduce “new challenge maps regularly with unique mechanics.” More importantly, this guarantees that the game can indeed be funded and released.

River Cities is anticipated to launch sometime in 2025, but in the meantime, you can check out its free demo on Steam.

For more, explore other upcoming indie games for 2025 and beyond.