Show HN: Microcosm Industries – Simulation toys and software microcosms

I’ve been obsessed with simulation toys (software that allows you to play with a complex miniature world) ever since I was young and playing with SimCity and cellular automata. This kind of software exists at the delightful and weird intersection of simulation, complexity science, education, and gaming. And I want more of it! I created Microcosm Industries to initially act as a clearinghouse for simulation toys that are being built, ones that allow the user to playfully grapple with complex systems in all their interdisciplinary strangeness.

But I’m also hoping that Microcosm Industries can be more: acting as a way to spur people to make more of these, or even serving as a Schelling Point for this somewhat fractured simulation toy world. Because this type of software shouldn’t just be thought of as being from the heyday of Maxis—maker of SimCity and many other games—decades ago. In truth, this kind of software is easier to build than ever, due to processing advances and AI-enhanced coding. We might be entering a new golden age for the simulation toy.

Here’s a bit more about the thinking behind Microcosm Industries: https://microcosm.industries/about/

And please let me know of other examples I should add to the Microcosm Industries list, or fellow travelers I should be speaking with.

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nylonstrung 17 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Very cool- I've been working on a new engine for this type of stuff so glad to see others are interested. Also reading Permutation City right now so cool to see it on your reading list

	▲	arbesman 15 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Amazing! Thanks so much.

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1bpp a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Did an LLM generate this website or stylesheet?

	▲	moritzwarhier a day ago \| parent [-]
		It does sound and look like it (also the HN submission text...). I hope I'm not insulting s/1bpp/arbesman here as a person with genuine passion. But to me, the promises "LLMs can prototype your ideas quickly", "LLMs can build from solely a natural language description" increasingly sound like proverbial monkeys-paw-wishes. Not wrong, but also the opposite of helpful. I want to be clear here, I'm not talking about coding AIs/LLMs in general, just the particular flow simple idea -> working app All the great apps I've ever used, from the measliest web clients (think of some important form CRUD thing), to the most complex desktop applications (IDEs, DAWs, games): the moat was and is always attention to detail, and being a good "host" and guide for your users. This app is so blown up with bombastic text that the opposite applies, I first have to consider what mindset is required to find it interesting. Seems common.