# Size of Life

30 Hacker News commenters recommended Size of Life and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A free interactive site comparing the scale of living things, praised for its art, music and polish. Critics mention the metric-to-inches switch and a consent window with many partners.

## Why people recommend it

- Beautiful art and soundtrack (8 comments): "The dynamic soundscape is delightful, as it subtly adds instruments and musical texture as you progress." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46220623)) "Love seeing something so polished and inspiring. Amazing illustrations and even better music." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46227732)) "The music was breathtaking here - I'd absolutely pay for a version of it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46222442))
- Polished, simple, inspiring execution (4 comments): "Love seeing something so polished and inspiring. Amazing illustrations and even better music." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46227732)) "A simple idea but fabulous execution!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46228251)) "this has more of an indie gem feel" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46226804))
- Trust in Neal's projects (3 comments): "He's constantly making some of the coolest stuff on the web." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46226378)) "You really can't go wrong with any of Neal's fun projects!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46222284)) "Just delightful, thank you Neal." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46220401))
- Teaches scale of nature (2 comments): "Neal delivers. I recently learned that viruses are not considered living being, but I'm nevertheless happy they're included here" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46220264)) "I learned so much from these visualizations as an adult" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46222368))

## What people warn about

- Metric to inches switch confusing (2 comments): "Transitioning from micrometer/milliliter to inches is pretty rough" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46223258)) "I like it, but the switch from metric to inches is confusing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46219883))
- Consent window with many partners (2 comments): "the number if partners and affiliates in the consent window is very off putting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46219991)) "Had to click 26 (sic!) switches to opt out of being tracked." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46230301))
- Visual scale seems off (2 comments): "The visual scale seems off, especially on the smaller end of things." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46220044)) "The dimensioning of DNA was an immediate turn-off for me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46228004))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [ciechanow.ski](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ciechanow-ski.md): 33 recommend
- [PGSimCity](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pgsimcity.md): 27 recommend
- [Ithihāsas](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ithih-sas.md): 18 recommend
- [Now I Get It](https://hackerapproved.com/p/now-i-get-it.md): 17 recommend
- [Transformer Explainer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/transformer-explainer.md): 12 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Size of Life", https://hackerapproved.com/p/size-of-life/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).