# Airport Simulator

41 Hacker News commenters recommended Airport Simulator and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Addictive air traffic game people find fun, with no instructions needed. Common caveat: clicking planes gets awkward as congestion builds, especially on phones.

## Why people recommend it

- Fun and enjoyable to play (11 comments): "Very fun. My only gripe is that you should be able to overfly taxiing aircraft, without crashing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48980990)) "Fun, and good art style. I found the controls a bit frustrating in general, though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48979991)) "Nice and fun, but I'd like that the fame enforces a minimal turning radius." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48978190))
- Addictive and hard to put down (3 comments): "This is an amazing game that I'm still playing after a week" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49083580)) "very sticky game, love it!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48980299)) "Addictive! Made it to #16" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48984806))
- Easy to learn without instructions (3 comments): "Such a neat little package - I love that there are no instructions." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48978727)) "it was really fun once I realized that I have to drag the airplanes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48979405)) "Fun how quickly i developed my own rules." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48978256))
- Appealing art and airport style (2 comments): "Fun, and good art style. I found the controls a bit frustrating in general, though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48979991)) "I love the airport style, bilingual interface." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48980331))

## What people warn about

- Clicking and touch controls are awkward (5 comments): "Fun, and good art style. I found the controls a bit frustrating in general, though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48979991)) "The touch controls, at least on iOS, leave a lot to be desired." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48978603)) "the click targets are a bit awkward but otherwise really fun!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48983716))
- Cramped view and menu on phones (3 comments): "Think it needs just a little zoom out on my phone but had a fun time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48977945)) "On phones the cramped view is particularly pronounced." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48981164)) "on mobile the menu is in the way and you can't play" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49003163))
- Too many restrictions on aircraft (3 comments): "Very fun. My only gripe is that you should be able to overfly taxiing aircraft, without crashing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48980990)) "Nice and fun, but I'd like that the fame enforces a minimal turning radius." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48978190)) "not being able to vector departing planes is also a pain" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48980945))
- Congestion becomes tedious and hard to click (2 comments): "The predictable congestion gets a bit tedious and makes the game impossibly difficult quite quickly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48980529)) "As the airspace gets more congested, it becomes difficult to click the airplanes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48978163))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Dwarf Fortress](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dwarf-fortress.md): 74 recommend
- [Firewood Splitting Simulator](https://hackerapproved.com/p/firewood-splitting-simulator.md): 32 recommend
- [RollerCoaster Tycoon](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rollercoaster-tycoon.md): 21 recommend
- [RimWorld](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rimworld.md): 19 recommend
- [Train SIM](https://hackerapproved.com/p/train-sim.md): 19 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Airport Simulator", https://hackerapproved.com/p/airport-simulator/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).