Micropolis/SimCity Clone in Emacs Lisp
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This is a little game implemented over a week of tinkering and targeting Emacs.The point is both to have fun with this kind of simulations, and also explore the "functional core / imperative shell" approach to architecture. I also developed a tile and tile effect definition DSL, which makes this even easier to extend. From this point of view it's a success: easy testing, easy extension,Gameplay-wise the simulation is too simplistic, and needs input from people interested in this kind of toys. The original Micropolis/SimSity is the last time I built a virtual city.
HN · launched Feb 5, 2026 · 176 upvotes (top 6%) · 0 views
Niche: simulation games · 118 launches, 10 in the last 7 days ▼ -44% · Explore this niche →
Category and tags
- Media & entertainment
- B2C
- Not AI
- Hobby / open-source project
Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗
More like this: all 118 launches in simulation games →
Could you build this?
Yes Implementing a 2D tile simulation game with a domain-specific language in Emacs Lisp is a self-contained hobby software project well within AI coding capabilities.
Discussion
20 comments analyzed.
Competitors mentioned: Tetris, SimCity (original versions), Tropico
Concerns raised: Emacs not good for live rendering and simulation, Steep learning curves and gatekeeping in computer science, Graphical mode doesn't look decent or snappy, Lisp dialect interoperability challenges across implementations
Feature requests: Turn-based gameplay instead of real-time simulation, Better graphical UI in Emacs version, Standalone executable without requiring Emacs startup, Cross-Lisp dialect compatibility for broader tool support
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 81 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #9 of 82 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 99 days after the earliest competitor.
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- Microcosm Industries · hn · 2026-07-10 · 22 upvotes · similarity 0.44
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- Cellarium: A Playground for Cellular Automata · hn · 2026-02-21 · 41 upvotes · similarity 0.39
- Our space game has a built-in RISC-V emulator that runs Linux · hn · 2026-10-02 · 94 upvotes · similarity 0.39
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