Arrange roads, waterways and buildings on a tiny isometric plot and shape a town however you like.
IsoCity is a calm building toy where you design a small town on an angled, isometric grid. The map is a 7x7 square, giving you 49 spots to fill. On the left sits a palette with over 70 tiles, including roads, crosswalks, canals, walls, shops and tall apartment buildings.
There’s no budget to watch and nothing that can go wrong. You simply pick pieces and place them until your town looks the way you want.
How building works
Choose a tile from the palette, then click or tap a square on the map. The new piece replaces whatever was there. Mouse users can also keep the button pressed and sweep over the grid, laying one tile on many squares at once, which makes long streets easy. As you hover, a shaded diamond highlights the target square.
Made a mistake? Right-click a square to turn it back into flat ground. On a touch screen, select the bare ground piece and tap. Nothing is permanent, and redoing an entire neighborhood takes only seconds.
Finding the right tile
The palette is grouped loosely by type. At the top you’ll find straight roads, intersections, a roundabout, crosswalks and streets lined with trees. Scroll down for curves, bends and dead ends, followed by canals and red wall pieces. The final rows are buildings, from little corner shops to glass office towers and brick apartments.
Road pieces each have a fixed shape. Straight sections come in two directions, while each corner, junction and dead end points in a single direction. Look closely at the palette picture so the openings line up with the tiles next to it.
Design ideas
- Plan streets before buildings. Tall pieces block the view of the squares behind them, so draw your roads first.
- Keep tall towers toward the back. Tiles lower on the screen overlap the ones above, so a skyscraper up front can hide your shops.
- Frame areas with water. A line of canal tiles makes a tidy border around a park or along a row of shops.
- Vary building heights. Mixing short storefronts with taller blocks gives your skyline more character.
Who it suits
IsoCity is perfect if you like designing without pressure. It also works as a sketchpad for testing layout ideas, since the small map keeps every square in view. A session can last two minutes or twenty, and your town is waiting when you return.
Controls
| Action | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|
| Pick a tile | Click it in the palette (scroll the palette for more) | Tap it in the palette |
| Place the tile | Click a square on the map, or hold the button and drag to paint | Tap a square on the map |
| Clear a square | Right-click it | Pick the plain ground tile (first in the palette) and tap the square |
IsoCity FAQ
Can I play IsoCity on a phone or Chromebook?
Yes. On a phone or tablet, tap a tile in the palette and then tap a square on the map. On a Chromebook, click to place pieces, hold the button and drag to paint several squares, and right-click to clear one.
Will my town be saved?
Yes. Your browser saves the layout after each placement, and it reappears when you come back on that same device and browser. Wiping your site data will erase it.
Is there a goal or time limit?
No. There is no money, no population count and no timer. You decide what to build, whether that's a neat street grid, a canal-side neighborhood or one crowded downtown block.
How do I clear the whole map quickly?
Choose the plain ground tile, which is the first piece in the palette. With a mouse, hold the button and sweep it across the map to reset many squares in one stroke.
