Tower Lab System Requirements

Tower Lab’s install is small. The sim is not. You are about to run a physics lab that can Grow a wave, spin it in Gravity, and grind it at 3X speed. Steam Early Access is scheduled for September 7, 2026 for Windows and macOS. Steam Deck compatibility is Playable. This page copies the store minimums, names the graphics APIs, and refuses to list Linux as a supported platform even if leftover requirement fields exist in a data dump.

Use controls once you know the machine can launch. Use Early Access for the date and content list. Use community links if you need the Steam page itself.

Supported platforms

Official store platforms:

• Steam on Windows
• Steam on macOS
• Steam Deck: Playable

Not listed here as supported: native Linux desktop. A privacy document may mention Steam Deck via Proton. That is not a Linux SKU on the store page, and this wiki will not add one.

The game is single-player with Cloud, achievements, leaderboards, Workshop, Photo Mode, and Family Sharing. None of those features lower the GPU floor. They also do not add an online raid tax. You can Save Anytime according to Steam’s accessibility flags, which is friendly to laptops that need to sleep.

Windows minimum

Steam’s Windows minimum block:

Item	Minimum
OS	Windows 10 64-bit
Processor	Intel Core i5-4590 / AMD FX-8350 or equivalent
Memory	8 GB RAM
Graphics	NVIDIA GTX 960 / AMD Radeon R9 280 (DirectX 11 compatible, 2 GB VRAM)
DirectX	Version 11
Storage	2 GB available space
Notes	64-bit processor and operating system required

Recommended specs are not filled in as a separate performance target on the store beyond the 64-bit note. Treat the minimum as “it should launch and simulate modest pads.” Grow stacks, Imploder, Grinder, and 3X speed are how you discover whether equivalent means equivalent. If Simulate stutters, drop to 1X before you rewrite a starter deck.

DirectX 11 is the API line. A DX9-only GPU is the wrong era. 2 GB VRAM is the card floor, not the install size. The disk need is also 2 GB, which is easy to misread. You can have free disk and still fail VRAM.

macOS minimum

Steam’s macOS minimum block:

Item	Minimum
OS	macOS 12.0 Monterey or later
Processor	Apple M1 or Intel Core i5 (2018 or newer)
Memory	8 GB RAM
Graphics	Apple M1, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640, or AMD Radeon Pro 555
Graphics API	Metal required
Storage	2 GB available space

Intel Macs older than 2018 are outside the line even if they can boot Monterey with luck. Iris Plus 640 and Radeon Pro 555 are the Intel-era GPU examples. Apple Silicon starts at M1. Metal is mandatory; this is not an OpenGL courtesy build.

Laptop thermals matter more on Mac than the table admits. A physics tick at 3X with Photo Mode open is a heat test. Close extra displays if the fan becomes the loudest machine in the lab.

Steam Deck Playable

Playable is not Verified. Expect to use Steam Input for mouse placement, right-click (sell / info / tech tree), and HUD buttons rather than a first-party gamepad legend. The controls page lists N, Tab, and F as confirmed keys; map those if you want cooldown and camera reset without the touch overlay.

Deck storage is still 2 GB for the title, which is nothing next to shader caches and Workshop levels. Performance is a per-pad question: empty Puzzle maps are cheap; Endless Overmass with grown robots is not. If the Deck hitch-feeds, cap speed at 1X and disable ornamental camera spins. Camera Comfort exists as a Steam accessibility flag for a reason.

Do not call Deck support a Linux launch. The supported desktop operating systems on this wiki remain Windows and macOS.

Storage, APIs, and what is not listed

Two gigabytes is the install number on both desktop platforms. Cloud saves do not replace that. Workshop levels will add more over time; the roadmap even promises expanded Workshop support after EA, which means the 2 GB floor is a launcher number, not a lifetime ceiling.

APIs:

• Windows: DirectX 11
• macOS: Metal

No Vulkan row. No DX12 row. No native Linux row.

Accessibility and quality-of-life flags that are not spec but affect whether you try: Mouse Only Option, Playable without Timed Input, Save Anytime, Camera Comfort, Custom Volume Controls. They live with the controls write-up because they describe how you operate the lab, not which GPU you bought.

How to read these numbers before Sep 7, 2026

Wishlist if you meet the table. If you are under 8 GB RAM or on a pre-960 / non-Metal GPU, wait for actual EA benchmarks instead of hoping. A 2 GB download will not magically simulate twenty towers interacting.

After Early Access unlocks, re-check this page only when Steam edits the requirement blocks. Until then, the useful extras are in Early Access (what the build contains) and community links (where to report a crash). Play Tug Studio’s privacy policy notes crash reporting and hardware telemetry with an in-game opt-out for gameplay telemetry; that is a policy fact, not a spec reduction.

If your machine clears Windows or macOS minimums, stop optimizing the spreadsheet and go learn N, Tab, F, and right-click. System requirements get you into the lab. Knocking robots off the pad is still a physics problem.