Townscaper is a well-reviewed indie city-building sandbox game that's been available on PC and consoles since August, and this week it has made its way to mobile. The developer describes it as an experimental passion project, and I'd have to say that lines up with my experience. This isn't a traditional game, there are no goals, but it is a delightful sandbox where you can build gorgeous Mediterranean-style towns and cities by simply tapping on your screen. It's so easy a child could do it. Ultimately, this part of the appeal, that anyone can pick up and play Townscaper, which suits on-the-go mobile play perfectly.

It feels extremely rare for me to gush about a mobile game release at AP, and yet here I am, gushing. There's no denying that Townscaper is a charming release. I was hooked within the first minute of playing. You start out with an empty ocean, with a few color choices on the screen. Just choose a color, and start tapping. Platforms and buildings will appear where you tap, allowing players to design towns and cities in any way they like. While this sounds extremely simple, the result is anything but. These towns and cities are a sight to behold, and since this is a sandbox game, the sky is the limit.

Once you dive into the game's settings, you'll find an optional grid system (to better guide your designs), along with an excellent lighting system that allows you to adjust the sun's position. This way, you can take some awesome screenshots of your creations under specific lighting conditions that will assuredly make your towns pop off the screen. As you create, you can undo your actions, and much like Photoshop, you can go back to the very beginning if need be. You can play in landscape and portrait, and the game is plenty legible on phones and tablets alike. Controller support is included out of the box if you require precision, and the touchscreen controls are also great.

Performance is spot-on. I tested the game on a ROG 5 and Galaxy Tab S7. Rarely did the framerate drop. You'll have to build giant cities to impact performance, and even then, frames only drop when adding new structures, never when panning the camera. On my ROG 5, I played at 144FPS, with the framerate getting cut in half when repeatedly tapping to add new buildings. This never felt disruptive and is honestly barely noticeable since your finger is covering the screen when building. More or less, the halved framerate when constructing feels like it's done on purpose to keep the performance of the game fluid as new buildings spring to life.

Townscaper is a premium release. There are no advertisements or in-app purchases to worry about. The game retails for $4.99, which is actually a dollar cheaper than the PC and console versions. If you'd like to pick up a copy, you can navigate to the Play Store listing through the widget below. All around, this is easily one of the best Sandbox games I've played on mobile, so if you're intrigued, make sure you don't miss out, Townscaper is a pile of fun.