Tiny Brutalism, a concrete diorama builder you can walk through, moves from itch.io to a Steam page

Jimjum Studios' sandbox for building brutalist towers, bridges and walls, then exploring them in first person, is on Steam as coming soon. The early build is still sold on itch.io for $5 or more, n...

AI-drafted from 4 sources. This story was written with AI from the outside reporting listed under Sources, and checked by automated tools before it went up. The originals have the full detail.

Most cosy builders hand you thatched roofs and flower boxes. Tiny Brutalism hands you poured concrete. It is a diorama sandbox based on brutalist architecture, and its Steam page, from Jimjum Studios, went up this month with the game listed as coming soon. The pitch is short: build "strange monuments, impossible structures, concrete towers, or just a really big wall", then walk around inside them. There is no goal.

The store page lists more than 20 building blocks that fit together with procedurally generated buildings, bridges, towers, stairs and plants, a day and night cycle, and rain and fog you summon yourself. First-person mode lets you explore what you have made from the eyes of a citizen, and the developers point out that you can jump and parkour about as well. The screenshots are almost all grey, which suits the subject.

Already playable on itch.io

You do not have to wait for Steam to try it. The itch.io page, credited to Placeholders and Jimjum Studios, sells the current build for $5 or more, for Windows, macOS and Linux. It is at version 0.3.1, was published about three weeks ago, and holds 4.5 stars from 28 ratings. Two updates have landed since: Eco-Brutalism, which brought the nature tools, and The Movement Update, which added the running, wall runs and wall jumps. Worlds can be exported and shared, and the page states that no generative AI was used. It is made in Unity.

A Hacker News post about the itch.io build on 1 October reached 235 points, and on 18 October the developers posted the Steam page there under the title "Thanks to HN it's on Steam". One thing to know if you buy on itch.io now: after the update that announced the Steam page, some players found the build trying to launch Steam and failing. The developer apologised in the comments and pushed a hotfix, and the player who reported it confirmed it works.

For now the Steam listing is Windows only and has no price or date.

Sources

• Tiny Brutalism – Thanks to HN it's on Steam (Steam)
• Discussion: Tiny Brutalism – Thanks to HN it's on Steam (Hacker News)
• Tiny Brutalism by Placeholders, Jimjum Studios (itch.io)
• Tiny Brutalism: Thanks to HN it's on Steam (Hacker News)

Image: Jimjum Studios