A mayor simulator where corruption is gameplay

Name: A mayor simulator where corruption is gameplay
Availability: InStock
Author: playbgames

by playbgames·Feb 15, 2026·1 point·0 comments

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AI Analysis

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The Take

City-building meets political sandbox: you run a town and can lean into corruption, press manipulation, gang conflicts and police investigations. The pitch is provocative, but the Steam page is just the stock storefront — there’s no evidence yet that the ‘illegal mechanics’ will form deep, systemic gameplay rather than episodic gimmicks. If they deliver convincing faction AI, reputation economies and real trade-offs for corruption vs legitimacy, this could move from curiosity to something worth following.

Post Description

Hi HN,

We’re a small indie team working on a political sandbox game.

It starts like a traditional city builder, but escalates into gang conflicts, media manipulation, elections and police investigations.

One design challenge we’re facing:

How do you make “illegal mechanics” feel like meaningful systems instead of gimmicks?

We’re preparing for Next Fest and refining the core loop.

Would love feedback on: - The core concept - Whether this feels niche or scalable - What would make this interesting long-term

Happy to answer any technical or design questions.

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