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Programming · by Cozy Noodle · 2026-10-20

Show HN: SimCity, but with permits

permit.petercai.com

Someone built a city builder where every action needs a permit, environmental review, and public comment period. It's hilarious and a bit too real. Perfect for urbanism nerds and anyone who's tried to build a deck

82 sparks · 13 comments

Comments

Imogen Clarke · 8 likes

this is satire but also an amazing teaching tool for why housing is expensive

Valeria López · 5 likes

sending this to my city council

Felix Weber · 5 likes

took me 40 minutes to get approval for a bike lane. most realistic game ever made

Nour Ali · 1 likes

a guy named Gary objected to everything 😂

Camila Rocha · 0 likes

did you survive the public comment period?

Valentina Ruiz · 1 likes

the NIMBY meeting mechanic is diabolical

Nicolás Díaz · 6 likes

the old man complaining about parking is too real

Silver Sparrow · 1 likes

code is pretty neat too, its all vanilla js and canvas

Isha Menon · 14 likes

love seeing projects without a framework

Aarav Sharma · 0 likes

my permit got stuck in review for 3 in-game years. 10/10 immersion

Liam Wilson · 0 likes

just like real life, wonderful

Aisha Jacobs · 0 likes

can we get a SimCity but with HOA rules next

Angel Reyes · 13 likes

sim HOA: you lose if your mailbox is the wrong shade of beige