isometric.nyc

About

Isometric NYC is an enormous, zoomable map of New York City drawn in the isometric pixel-art style of late-1990s city builders such as SimCity 2000 and RollerCoaster Tycoon. You can pan and zoom across the city, picking out landmarks, stadiums, bridges and your own block. It is a treat for New Yorkers, map lovers, retro-game fans, and anyone curious about what creative work with generative AI can look like. The project was made by Andy Coenen, a software engineer who had the idea while looking out over Lower Manhattan from an office balcony. He built it tile by tile, using 3D city data as a base and an image model fine-tuned on a small set of hand-checked examples to repaint each tile in a consistent pixel-art style. His write-up is an honest, detailed account of the process, the failures with water and trees, and his experience of building the whole thing with AI coding agents while writing almost no code himself. The map drew wide attention after its release in early 2026, with coverage on sites such as FlowingData and Laughing Squid. Highlights: • Seamless isometric pixel-art rendering of New York City • Smooth pan and zoom from a city overview down to single buildings • Recognizable landmarks, parks, bridges and waterfront • Classic city-builder look inspired by 1990s simulation games • Runs entirely in the browser with no install • A long-form making-of essay on the creator's site Isometric NYC is free to explore, with no account or download. It runs in modern web browsers on desktop and mobile.

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