About BraaiVille
A free city-building game set in South Africa. Build townships and suburbs, run power to them, sink mines, open game reserves, and keep the books balanced — all in your browser, with nothing to install and no account to create.
What it is
BraaiVille is a love letter to South Africa. Stokvels, shisanyama, minibus taxis, jacarandas in bloom, the Big Five — and the ever-present threat of load shedding. You start with empty veld and a treasury, and decide what gets built where.
Along the way it slips in some real financial thinking. Mines earn well but run dry, so diversify before the ore is gone. Loans compound against you every month. Coal is cheap today and expensive in happiness tomorrow. None of it is a lecture — it is just how the city behaves when you make those choices.
Who makes it
BraaiVille is made by Fresh Twig — Brett G. Mowat.
Fresh Twig is about making fun and functional software that entertains. I enjoy helping people and this game is a small way I can do that. There are educational elements and insights into South African life. Enjoy - Brett
How it is built
BraaiVille runs entirely in your browser. There is no server-side game logic, no database and no account system — your city lives in your own browser's storage and never leaves your device unless you deliberately export it to a file.
- A nod to the classic city-builders, rebuilt from scratch for the browser.
- The soundtrack is generated live in your browser using the Web Audio API — every drum, bassline and melody is synthesised note by note as you play. There are no music files to download and nothing is streamed. Twelve styles nod to South African genres, from amapiano and kwaito to sokkie, maskandi and Cape goema jazz.
- Map terrain, buildings and vehicles are drawn procedurally in-game rather than loaded as artwork.
Use of artificial intelligence
BraaiVille was built with AI assistance, and we would rather say so plainly than leave you guessing. Specifically:
- Code. The game was developed with help from Claude (Anthropic). Every line was reviewed, tested and published by a person, who remains responsible for it.
- Music. The soundtrack is not AI-composed and not a recording. It is algorithmic — written rules that synthesise notes live in your browser, so the music is different each time you play.
- Artwork and the intro. Some artwork and the opening video were produced with generative AI tools.
- Game behaviour. The simulation is ordinary code — economics, power, traffic and happiness follow fixed rules. There is no AI model running inside the game, and nothing you do is sent to one.
Nothing you type, build or save is sent to any AI service. The game runs entirely in your browser. AI was used to make BraaiVille; it is not used while you play it.
Copyright
BraaiVille — the game, its code, its artwork and this website — is © 2026 Fresh Twig (Brett G. Mowat). All rights reserved.
You are welcome to play it, share the link, and export and swap save files. You may not copy, re-host, rebrand or sell the game or its source, in whole or in part, without written permission. If you would like to use part of it for something, just ask — the answer is often yes.
Phaser, the game engine, is a separate open-source project by Photon Storm, used under the MIT licence.
Cost
BraaiVille is free to play. There is nothing to buy, no premium tier and no in-game purchases.
Running costs are covered by advertising shown alongside the game. The game itself is unaffected — there is no paywall, no advert between turns, and nothing is withheld from you. See the Privacy Policy for what the advertising involves and how to opt out of personalised ads.
Feedback and bug reports
Found a bug, or have an idea for the game? Get in touch — suggestions@braaiville.com.
If you are reporting a problem, it helps enormously to say which browser you are using and what you were doing when it happened.
Privacy
The game collects no personal information about you and your city never leaves your device. The adverts alongside it are served by Google, which sets its own cookies. The full details, including how to opt out of personalised ads, are in the Privacy Policy.