July 22, 2026
Web-slinging, wisecracks, and one brutal review
Show HN: Web swing through midtown NYC
A tiny Spider-Man-style NYC toy has commenters split between wow, lol, and totally broken
TLDR: A browser game lets people swing through a simplified Midtown Manhattan like a comic-book hero. Commenters mostly thought it was a blast and praised how it saves players from falling, but one deadpan "Broken" review and a bootleg "Clamber-Man" joke gave the thread its drama.
A little browser game called Swing NYC dropped people into a blocky version of Midtown Manhattan and told them to do one thing: web-swing like a superhero. The setup is gloriously simple for non-gamers too — click, swing, jump, dive, and try not to face-plant between skyscrapers. And according to the comments, that last part is where the creator earned real praise. One player loved the game's smart safety net, cheering its "thoughtful snapping" that keeps you from plunging into the void when your aim gets messy. In tabloid terms: the city may be fake, but the relief is real.
The vibe in the thread was mostly delighted chaos. One commenter casually flexed that they played it while sitting in a midtown building, which is the kind of accidental main-character energy the internet lives for. Another wanted the behind-the-scenes story — how the city was built and what tools made the whole thing work — the classic "this is cool, now show me how the magic trick works" response. But every shiny demo needs a villain, and here it arrived in one brutally efficient review: "Broken." No explanation, no mercy, just one-word carnage.
And then came the meme energy. One commenter crowned it the "Best Clamber-Man video game ever," dragging in a weirdly perfect bootleg-superhero joke via Clamber Man. So yes, the community verdict is basically this: fun little hit, surprisingly polished, occasionally busted, and extremely memeable.
Key Points
- •The Show HN post presents an interactive project titled **SWING NYC**.
- •The experience is set in Midtown NYC and references a voxel-rendered Manhattan environment.
- •Desktop controls include left mouse for web-swinging and W/A/S/D for movement.
- •Movement options include jump, super jump, air dash, dive, and rooftop respawn.
- •The page credits the music track **“POWERUP!”** to **Jeremy Blake**.