Show HN: I made a tactical map-based WWII submarine simulator (public beta)

A solo maker just surfaced on Hacker News with Silent Shark, a public beta for a World War II submarine simulator that leans hard into realism: maps, periscope, hydrophone listening, torpedo controls, weather, fuel, oxygen, the whole tense cat-and-mouse fantasy. But the real action wasn’t only underwater — it was in the comments, where the community immediately turned the launch into a mini-drama about authenticity, vibes, and one extremely suspicious font.

The creator, epaga, dropped a mildly heartbreaking backstory: they’d posted it before and got “0 upvotes”, only for the project to boomerang back into view later. That underdog energy won people over fast, with replies ranging from the simple and wholesome “very cool, i’m in” to cautious praise calling it “a tad dry” but deeply authentic. In other words: this is catnip for history nerds, but maybe not exactly popcorn gaming.

Then came the funniest flare-up: “Is that comic sans or am I having a moment” instantly stole the spotlight, because nothing derails a serious WWII mood piece faster than a font jump scare. And there was one real split in the crowd: browser game or proper app? One commenter said playing it in a browser feels too temporary for something you’re supposed to slowly learn and sink hours into, arguing a fullscreen Steam demo would fit the experience better. So yes, people are impressed — but they also want the immersion cranked to periscope depth, with fewer browser tabs and definitely fewer font-related emotional crises.