A review code was provided, and many thanks to Pretty Soon Games.
Small Spaces is a 2025 casual indie game about creating and furnishing small apartments. It is developed by Niklas Tomkowitz and released in Early Access by Pretty Soon.
The Gameplay of Small Spaces
In Small Spaces, we have several small, beautiful apartments in New York, Berlin, and Tokyo that require furnishing. Each city contains three different-sized flats, which are unlocked sequentially. We have complete freedom within the space – we can add and arrange furniture, or we can add panels and more interior levels and ladders.
Each space comes with its own story about the people who will live there and their requests. Most of these are basic, like a bedroom, wardrobe space, a workstation, a kitchen, and so on, but we also have special requests, such as adding a lot of plants or a space for painting with painting supplies. When we are done with the apartment, we get a grade of how well we’ve done and earn stars. The stars can be used in the in-game store to purchase additional furniture and decorative packs, building materials, and more. You can unlock almost everything quickly, and then it’s genuinely a matter of creative freedom as to what you do within the space.
The three cities (New York, Berlin, and Tokyo) give us access to three distinct architectural styles from around the world. Additionally, the spaces, furniture, and materials, in fact everything, is realistic and beautiful. The way sunlight hits certain spots in the apartment, along with the smooth controls, the lack of timers, and the absolute freedom to place objects and arrange the space makes for an almost zen-like gaming experience.
Earning stars to unlock the rest of the furniture and materials is incredibly easy – you don’t even need to arrange the furniture, just place it. Still, the idea of a bit of storyline is a nice touch. The stories and needs of the people are realistic and lived in.
Small Spaces also features an option to skip time, allowing us to view our creations at different times of the day. We can also tour the apartments at any point in first person.
The State of the Game
Small Spaces is in Early Access, meaning this is not the final state of the game. That being said, I didn’t experience any stuttering or freezes. All of the controls were behaving as they should. The furniture and decorative elements included in the game are extensive, allowing for numerous combinations.
I’ve had a few problems when placing items on a lower floor, as they sometimes move to the upper floor instead, but it’s fixable, even if it’s a bit annoying at the moment. Additionally, the game allows us to adjust the size of various elements, which is especially necessary in some cases – for example, the default size for all bathroom mirrors is too large for the sink options.
All in all, for a game in Early Access, Small Spaces is a great experience. It’s great in comparison to many full-release games.
Some Other Things
Small Spaces has basic audio and graphics settings. The game doesn’t have Steam cards or achievements yet. The game doesn’t support gamepad yet and the Steam Deck status is unknown. The developer has stated in the roadmap that Steam Deck and gamepad support will be coming in December, 2025.
Final Thoughts
Small Spaces is a cozy and visually appealing interior design game with considerable potential. The developer has released a roadmap outlining what to expect, and it appears ambitious. I can’t wait to play the full release, but until then, I think I’ll spend many hours exploring this version of Small Spaces. If you love the building mode in The Sims 4, I think you should definitely try Small Spaces as well.
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