# Interactive 3D three-body problem simulator

20 Hacker News commenters recommended Interactive 3D three-body problem simulator and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free browser simulator for watching 3D three-body orbits, with presets and many settings people find fun. Critics note energy isn't conserved and orbits often fly apart.

## Why people recommend it

- Fun to play with (3 comments): "Simple to use, surprisingly solid, and just a pleasure to poke around with." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45975331)) "it is a really fun sim, I think I will let my kid play with it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45977691)) "I spent a long time playing with the sim. Nice work." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45975757))
- Beautiful and mesmerizing to watch (3 comments): "So beautiful, I once had a similar idea, and I'm glad to see someone bring it to life" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45978741)) "the default simulation played out beautifully on-load" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46105630)) "some are mesmerizing to watch" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45980932))
- 3D presets are standouts (2 comments): "The 3D presets are the standout here, especially the ones that move in and out of the orbital plane." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45975782)) "Love the presets! The Broucke one is my favourite" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46106077))
- Many adjustable settings and mass inputs (2 comments): "Love this. It's not obvious from the UI but you can enter small mass changes and watch things slowly fall apart." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46105033)) "Color me impressed! I love the ammount of settings you can play with." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45975655))

## What people warn about

- Bodies fly off to infinity (3 comments): "Random3D seems to always have all the stars heading off to infinity." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47419436)) "all three objects were suddenly ejected with a very high velocity." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45978379)) "they yeet out of existence far far away" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47421032))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Gravity solar system simulator](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gravity-interactive-solar-system-simulator.md): 23 recommend
- [Falstad Math and Physics Simulations](https://hackerapproved.com/p/falstad-math-and-physics-simulations.md): 6 recommend
- [Newton's Orchard](https://hackerapproved.com/p/newton-s-orchard.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Interactive 3D three-body problem simulator", https://hackerapproved.com/p/browser-based-interactive-3d-three-body-problem-simulator/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).