Desktop Bonsai Towns FAQ

What kind of game is Desktop Bonsai Towns?

Desktop Bonsai Towns is an observation sim for Windows in which a voxel bonsai grows a cyberpunk town on your desktop.

Over several hours of real time, the bonsai grows in its pot while towers, sky bridges, neon signs and an elevated loop line build themselves on its trunk and branches.

Residents live their own lives, factions rise and split, and weather, disasters and invasions strike the town. You watch, prune now and then, and spend funds on permanent unlocks.

Is Desktop Bonsai Towns a desktop companion game I can leave running while I work?

Yes. Desktop Bonsai Towns is made to run beside your work: the town builds itself while the game runs, and you never place a building yourself.

Desktop mode leaves only the bonsai on your desktop, and the town keeps growing while you work in other windows.

You can steer the town a little with the build pin, pruning and permanent unlocks, but none of it is needed to keep the town growing.

Can I keep Desktop Bonsai Towns on my desktop while I work?

Yes. In desktop mode, Desktop Bonsai Towns hides its background and interface and leaves only the bonsai on your desktop.

Clicks on empty space pass through to the apps behind it, and you can drag the pot anywhere on the screen.

How does desktop mode work?

Desktop mode in Desktop Bonsai Towns shows only the bonsai and its town on top of your desktop. Turn it on with the Desktop button at the top right once a town has started.

Clicks on empty space reach the apps behind the bonsai. To move it, drag the town or its pot.

Point at the town to show two buttons by the pot: one returns to the window, the other turns auto-rotate on or off.

The town keeps its on-screen size, so size the game window before you switch.

How do I get the full window back from desktop mode?

Press Ctrl+Alt+B. The shortcut brings the full Desktop Bonsai Towns window back from any app.

You can also point at the town and use the button by the pot that returns to the window.

Does Desktop Bonsai Towns stay on top of other windows?

No. In desktop mode the bonsai is not pinned above other windows.

Press Ctrl+Alt+B in any app to bring the full Desktop Bonsai Towns window back.

Does the town grow while the game is closed or behind other windows?

The town in Desktop Bonsai Towns grows only while the game is running.

It keeps growing when the game window is behind other windows, but it does not grow while the game is closed.

There is no fast-forward and no pause; only photo mode, an unlock, stops time while you take a picture.

Can I play Desktop Bonsai Towns with a controller?

No. Desktop Bonsai Towns is played with a mouse and keyboard; controllers are not supported.

Does Desktop Bonsai Towns run on Mac?

No. Desktop Bonsai Towns is for Windows only: it needs 64-bit Windows 10 or Windows 11 with DirectX 11.

What PC do I need to run Desktop Bonsai Towns?

At minimum, Desktop Bonsai Towns needs 64-bit Windows 10, a quad-core CPU (Intel Core i5-6500 / AMD Ryzen 5 1400 or better), 8 GB of RAM, a DirectX 11 GPU with 2 GB of VRAM (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 / AMD Radeon R9 380 or better) and 2 GB of free storage.

The recommended PC has 64-bit Windows 11, an Intel Core i5-12400 / AMD Ryzen 5 5600 or better, 16 GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 / AMD Radeon RX 6600 or better.

Which languages does Desktop Bonsai Towns support?

Desktop Bonsai Towns has its interface in 29 languages, including Japanese, English and Simplified Chinese.

The full list is English, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Spanish (Spain), Indonesian, Ukrainian, Dutch, Greek, Swedish, Spanish (Latin America), Czech, Danish, Turkish, Norwegian, Hungarian, Finnish, Bulgarian, Vietnamese, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Polish, Malay, Romanian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Korean.

The first launch follows your system language, and you can change the language in Settings.

How does saving work?

Desktop Bonsai Towns saves by itself every 60 seconds and when you quit.

There is one save slot.

Does Desktop Bonsai Towns use AI during play, and was AI used to make it?

Desktop Bonsai Towns does not use AI during play: the bonsai and the towns are procedurally generated by the game’s own code, and the game does not generate content with AI or connect to external AI services while you play.

Generative AI tools were used to help create some background music and sound effects, the logo, icons, Steam achievement icons and store artwork, and to assist with translating in-game text and drafting store descriptions.

The developer reviews and selects the resulting assets and text, and edits them as needed.

Where can I get Desktop Bonsai Towns?

Desktop Bonsai Towns is coming to Steam for Windows.

Its Steam store page is open now: add the game to your wishlist there to be told when it becomes available.

How long does one bonsai take to grow?

One bonsai in Desktop Bonsai Towns takes several hours of real time to finish.

It grows only while the game is running. Finished trees go on your bonsai shelf.

What happens when the town falls?

When a town in Desktop Bonsai Towns falls, an end-of-days chronicle shows what brought it down and offers a hint for the next run.

A town falls when it has had no homes left for a while. Part of its score carries over to the next run as funds.

Will Desktop Bonsai Towns get other worlds?

Yes, more worlds are planned. For now Desktop Bonsai Towns has one world, Cyberpunk Town.

Worlds with other themes are planned for the future; no dates have been announced.

Can I choose the shape of the tree?

No. Desktop Bonsai Towns picks the shape of each tree, and shapes you have not collected yet come first.

Most trees grow in a traditional bonsai style, and now and then a wild one appears.