Tidy Up The Town: Not Just Another Tidy Up Game

Magical mishaps cause you to unleash chaos across the town. The market is in shambles, and your master is furious! Can you put it right and Tidy Up The Town?

Get Sorting

Set in a fantasy 3D town, you play the young apprentice who has lost control over their powers. After summoning a typhoon into the market square, your master informs you that you will have to set things back where they came from and earn back your powers. Thus begins the code gameplay loop of most sorting games. However, Tidy Up The Town still holds some surprises.

Picking Up The Pieces

I recently realised I enjoy these games because they are not that far from jigsaw puzzles in how you tackle them. Picking items from the piles to sort through all the “pieces” is a simple concept, but the variation of shapes and sizes is what makes it interesting. This is where Tidy Up The Town does really well.

The different market stalls offer a decent variety of items to sort. Tools, weapons, meat, veg; there’s just enough of each item to fill the stalls without being a drag to collect.

A Lively World

While most sorting games tend to be in closed stalls and abandoned arenas, Tidy Up The Town feels lived in. The NPCs are voice-acted and stare at you angrily while you complete your tasks. Secrets await the curious, and players are rewarded for their problem-solving. You can even choose your own dog and cat companions.

I realise that much of the game uses purchased assets. Still, it’s much better than generative slop and an impressive feat for a single developer. The sound design was also pretty solid and perfect for extended play sessions.

Chaos Control

Playing with the mouse and keyboard was incredibly comfortable. Your spells are linked to number shortcuts and easy to activate. There were some quality of life processes which made it feel more enjoyable than the average sorting game and it also supports controllers for those who prefer them.

The spells weren’t the usual draw-item-to-your-hand or insta-collect variety either. Naturally, each upgrade makes sorting easier, but they put a nice spin on the formulae. I didn’t think the upgrade costs were too grindy either. I also had no runtime issues and ran into no glitches. I’m not sure it was intentional, but I did have a weird slowdown when it pinged to show I had completed sets.

One More Run

I completed a casual run of Tidy Up The Town in just over two hours. Having uncovered the secrets, I think I could improve upon that, though. Since the release, a Samhain (Halloween) update has given players even more reason to return. There’s also a multiplayer mode, which I haven’t checked out yet. So, I’m looking forward to seeing what other events we see in the future.

It’s Tidy

Tidy Up The Town was a lot of fun. The shorter run time makes it the perfect lazy afternoon game, while the online leader boards give you reason to replay. There’s also NO GEN AI which you would think wouldn’t be a huge ask on some developers but hey-ho here we go!

While the market is flooded with lazy copies and cheap clones, Tidy Up The Town is a refreshing entry that doesn’t overstay its welcome.