TinyCity
A tiny city SIM for MicroPython (Thumby micro console)
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HN · launched Jan 15, 2026 · 142 upvotes (top 6%) · 2 views
Niche: management and simulation games · 82 launches, 5 in the last 7 days ▼ -58% · Explore this niche →
Category and tags
- Media & entertainment
- Hardware & robotics
- Prosumer
- Not AI
- Hobby / open-source project
Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗
More like this: all 82 launches in management and simulation games →
Could you build this?
Yes It is a retro 2D city simulation game written in MicroPython targeting the tiny Thumby microcontroller, achievable with basic game loop programming.
Discussion
20 comments analyzed.
Competitors mentioned: MakeCode-compatible devices (Micro:bit, MaplePad), PicoVision (dual RP2040 with HDMI), PicoVGA Library, MicroCity (by jhhoward)
Concerns raised: Residential population tax calculation appears to double-count in simulation, Economy skewed toward residential/away from industrial-commercial impact, Budget feels inconsistent with total population, Difficulty tuning harder due to extra money injection masking balance issues, Unplayable on most devices due to 72×40 display constraint
Feature requests: Support for additional MakeCode-compatible devices beyond Thumby, Online/playable version of the game, Reduce code repetition for better MicroPython performance, Map generation improvements for next release
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 2753 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #195 of 2754 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 78 days after the earliest competitor.
- Otty · hn · 2026-06-17 · 16 upvotes · similarity 0.57
- OpenSC4 · github · 2026-10-12 · 13 upvotes · similarity 0.55
- Mu · hn · 2025-11-24 · 65 upvotes · similarity 0.55
- kiri · github · 2026-11-02 · 504 upvotes · similarity 0.55
- fastvm · github · 2026-11-07 · 20 upvotes · similarity 0.55
- Tinycap, a tiny Mac screen recorder that makes PR-sized GIFs and MP4s · hn · 2026-10-30 · 5 upvotes · similarity 0.54
- herdr-sim · github · 2026-11-05 · 32 upvotes · similarity 0.53
- Inklite · github · 2026-10-10 · 20 upvotes · similarity 0.53
The niche, labels, vibe code rating and competitor comparison on this page are analysis by Nicheloom. If you use them, please credit nicheloom.com. How you may use our data.