Small Spaces

About

Small Spaces is a single player casual simulation game. It was developed by Niklas Tomkowitz and was released on May 27, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Unpacking Mode Update About the GameAbout this gameHi, I’m Niklas – the developer of Small Spaces. My goal is to make a game that puts you into a creative flow without you even noticing. And a lot of the player feedback has been exactly that. So, if you’re looking for a relaxing game to take your mind off stressful thoughts, Small Spaces might be just the creative escape you were looking for :…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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89%Audience ScoreBased on 735 reviews

graphics47 positive mentions

optimization6 negative mentions

Cozy, relaxing interior design game with beautiful graphics and lighting effects.
Intuitive controls and good creative freedom to customize and decorate small spaces.
Progression system with unlockable furniture and items keeps the gameplay engaging and rewarding.

Performance issues and poor optimization cause lag and crashes on many systems.
Limited variety of furniture, decor options, and color customization affects creativity.
Lack of sandbox mode and room layout customization restrict freedom for some players.

graphics
94 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
47%
3%
The game features beautiful, realistic, and cozy graphics with impressive lighting effects powered by Unreal Engine 5, creating an immersive and satisfying interior design experience. However, the high graphical demands may cause performance issues on lower-end PCs, with limited options for optimizing settings, occasional lag, and some graphical glitches reported. Despite these drawbacks, users praise the art style, customization options, and visual polish, highlighting the game's strong aesthetic appeal in its early access state.
- “Beautiful game, gorgeous graphics, gorgeous designs, totally immersive and engaging.”
- “The graphics are superb and even with the currently limited number of items to place the scope for creativity is immense so, personally I am delighted to highly recommend this game and hope you love it as much as I do.”
- “The game’s art direction is clear, it uses Unreal Engine 5 with lumen lighting to lean into that realistic graphics that you often see in home interior videos.”
- “The ghosting issue is especially frustrating—particularly since I’m running it on a 5080 graphics card, where that shouldn’t be happening.”
- “If I'm not playing on lowest graphics everything else on my very high quality PC runs like trash.”
- “Honestly the game could be a whole lot better... this game looks cute and fun but I just can't get around how slow it makes my PC... and graphics look so blurry when I play this game and does not focus right.”
music
53 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
60%
6%
The music in the game is widely praised for its calming, cozy, and relaxing ambiance that complements the interior design gameplay well, creating a peaceful atmosphere. However, many users find the soundtrack repetitive due to the limited variety and short looping, and the lack of volume control or music options is a common complaint. Despite these issues, the music contributes positively to the game's chill vibe, making it a pleasant experience for unwinding.
- “I've already convinced two friends to get it - it has everything an interior design game should have and it plays really nice music while you design things!”
- “The atmosphere, music and the design catalogue make this the perfect game to unwind with in an evening or during a stressful week.”
- “It's such a calm, cosy game - love the background music.”
- “My only nitpick is that the music track (I think there's just one?) loops pretty quickly, which gets annoying if you spend a long time in any one level, but you can always mute it if that kind of thing bothers you.”
- “I had to turn off the music as it was too repetitive and kept to the same song.”
- “My only real dislike is that there are no sliders for the audio in-game – it's either on or off, which is not ideal if you like background music and sound effects at different sound levels.”
gameplay
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
73%
7%
The gameplay is generally praised for its relaxing, intuitive mechanics that emphasize creativity and personal expression through decorating and design, with straightforward controls and rewarding progression. However, some users find the current gameplay limited, rigid, or occasionally glitchy, reflecting its early access state, and call for more variety, sandbox modes, and smoother controls to fully realize its potential. Overall, it offers a cozy, approachable experience reminiscent of similar simulation games but would benefit from further development to enhance depth and freedom.
- “The gameplay makes it more than just "playing with a doll house" because you have the ability to make a space that becomes a home based on your style and creativity.”
- “The mechanics to place, move and edit items is incredibly intuitive and easy to work with, mostly only needing to use the mouse and WASD keys.”
- “The gameplay is elegantly simple yet deeply satisfying.”
- “You are completely locked into someone else's rigid design choices, effectively turning the gameplay into a tedious exercise of pressing buttons in a specific order.”
- “The game mechanics also seemed quite awkward for me.”
- “While the visual detail is very appealing, the developer has stalled on improving the game mechanics; I've not joined the Discord so I don't understand why that isn't the priority.”
optimization
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
72%
15%
Optimization for the game is currently poor and inconsistent, with many users experiencing performance issues even on high-end hardware, while others report smooth gameplay. The game is still in development with ongoing improvements expected, but players with weaker systems should be cautious. Despite optimization problems, many appreciate the visuals and remain hopeful due to active developer support and regular updates.
- “For early access, it runs smoothly and I haven't encountered any issues with performance.”
- “The raytracing and performance make it such a beautiful experience.”
- “I had zero performance issues personally, and it is reassuring to see the many regular updates and fixes.”
- “Performance is abysmal and so far it was a waste of time and money as I wasn't able to play.”
- “My only real problem right now is that even though my specs are above the recommended requirements, the game is very unoptimized.”
- “The developer seems to be unable or unwilling to address the performance issues.”
story
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
67%
11%
The game's story aspect is centered around small, charming narratives tied to each location and its residents, providing light context and inspiring design objectives without heavy plot constraints. While the storytelling adds atmosphere and motivation, many users find it simple or flat, serving more as a framework for gameplay rather than a compelling storyline. Some players appreciate the star-based progress system linked to these stories, but quest fulfillment issues and lack of deeper narrative engagement limit overall story satisfaction.
- “I really enjoy the simplicity of the game's interface, as well as the thoughtfulness behind the storytelling.”
- “I was pleasantly surprised by the little story snippets describing the people who live in each place.”
- “Each level has a unique floor plan and small story, plus two objectives.”
- “Normal mode is getting really boring, because to keep things existing, we're reintroduced to the family and their requirements, but this doesn't feel like a storyline; it's just tasks for the player.”
- “Sometimes quests are not possible to fulfill because you don't get the needed items.”
- “Storyline is flat.”
stability
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
95%
The game currently has various bugs affecting lighting, object placement, camera controls, and color/texture changes, typical of its early access state. While these glitches occasionally disrupt gameplay, they are generally minor and do not severely impact the overall cozy and enjoyable experience. Users see clear potential for improvement as development continues.
- “The guide itself is very buggy sometimes, especially when trying to place an item in a certain spot.”
- “Block placement is buggy; the snap-to-grid/object feature in particular is unreliable when it comes to blocks.”
- “I’ve encountered a few glitches where I can’t delete certain objects because they are not clickable and just broken, causing me to restart twice.”
atmosphere
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59%
23%
18%
The game's atmosphere is consistently praised for being cozy, relaxing, and immersive, enhanced by thoughtful lighting, day-night cycles, and calming music. Players appreciate the clean, inviting environments and the calming design mechanics that offer a stress-free, enjoyable experience. While controls receive some minor critique for intuitiveness, the overall ambiance successfully creates a soothing space perfect for unwinding.
- “From the moment you step into the world, the atmosphere completely pulls you in.”
- “Its thoughtful design, atmospheric environments, and well-crafted assets create an inviting space for players to explore interior design in a stress-free setting.”
- “Amazing atmosphere, stunning textures and overall a super cozy feeling.”
- “Would add a lot to the atmosphere I feel rather than the 'fog of war'.”
- “Atmosphere control: time of day, weather.”
- “I wish the controls were a little more intuitive, but I love the atmosphere and the challenge of fitting everything into a small space.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers strong replayability through its customizable spaces, gradually unlocked items, and enjoyable unpacking mode, encouraging players to revisit and improve their rooms repeatedly. While some perfectionists may find the initial building phase challenging, the relaxing and cozy experience, combined with room for additional content, keeps players engaged and eager to continue.
- “The game is very re-playable; you can redesign the spaces as many times as you like, trying out different styles, placements, and vibes.”
- “Unpacking mode is super fun and gives the smaller number of levels currently in the game lots of replay value.”
- “I'm postponing finishing the last apartment because I don't want it to end yet. You don't get all the furniture and materials at the beginning, so you have to unlock them by playing, which makes it very replayable since you can redo all your starting apartments eventually.”
- “It does give you a reason to go back and improve the room, which is the upside of it (also in terms of replayability), but at the moment of building, for perfectionists this can be a major turn-off.”
- “I'm postponing finishing the last apartment because I don't want it to end yet... you don't get all the furniture and materials yet in the beginning and so you have to unlock them by playing, which makes it very replayable because you can redo all your starting apartments eventually.”
- “Unpacking mode is also super fun and gives the smaller number of levels currently in the game lots of replay value.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is criticized for feeling tedious and overly restrictive, as players are forced to follow rigid design patterns that reduce gameplay to repetitive button pressing. Many find the experience monotonous, making progression feel like a chore.
- “You are completely locked into someone else's rigid design choices, effectively turning the gameplay into a tedious exercise of pressing buttons in a specific order.”
- “But at some point I just thought to myself, 'God, it feels so tedious to think I have a next room to do.'”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users appreciate that the game features no in-game purchases or microtransactions, setting it apart from similar decorating games. They value the well-developed character stories and see potential for future expansions without relying on additional monetization.
- “The stories about the characters are really well thought out and I love how there are no in-game purchases.”
- “Unlike many decorating games out there right now, there are no microtransactions, no additional packs to buy -- and yet, I feel like there's room for growth and potential expansions later down the road if the developer wants to keep updating the game.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the humor in the game genuinely funny and appreciate its comedic elements, with some suggesting that incorporating popular meme challenges could enhance the amusement.
- “I honestly find this hilarious.”
- “Also, somewhat related, it would be so funny to add that galvanized square steel meme challenge into this game.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the game provides strong emotional support, offering a comforting and heartfelt experience.