Lowtown

Lowtown is a tiny pixel-art village that lives right above your Windows taskbar. It is a fully autonomous desktop companion: you don't build anything and you don't give orders. The villagers live their own lives — just glance down now and then to see what they are up to.

A village that lives on its own

Villagers chop wood, fish, farm, bake bread, forge tools and put up new houses. The village council decides who takes on which trade as the settlement grows, and a little thought bubble pops up whenever someone starts something new. Children play outside, and newcomers arrive from beyond the edge of the screen.

From the first tents to skyscrapers

The settlement grows through seven eras — from a camp around a campfire to a village, a town, an industrial city and finally a metropolis. Canvas tents give way to timber cottages, brick houses and towers of steel and glass. When the whole strip is lined with skyscrapers, the town celebrates with fireworks — then you can start a new world or let the city live on.

Days, nights and seasons

A day passes in 24 minutes: the sun and the moon cross the sky, windows light up in the evening, and the village falls asleep at night.

A year lasts just 12 days. Spring blossom, summer greenery, autumn leaves and winter snow follow one another. Winter is the hardest season: villagers stock up on firewood and food, and children have snowball fights.

Stays out of your way

• Clicks pass right through the village. It never takes focus and doesn't show up in Alt+Tab.

• The village fades out when your cursor comes close.

• Everything is in the tray icon: show or hide the village, choose the monitor, change the speed and language, start with Windows.

• Light on resources: low frame rate, below-normal priority and Windows efficiency mode.

• Your village is saved automatically.

Cozy by design

No combat, no disasters, no deaths and no way to fail. A hard winter only slows the village down — it never punishes you. Lowtown is made to keep you quiet company for hours while you work or study.