Silent Shark
A map-based WWII submarine sim set in the Pacific: plot contacts, estimate range with a stadimeter and build firing solutions by hand. The developer says Codex wrote all of the code.
Links go to the official store or developer page. Last verified Nov 3, 2026.
Where to play
Every platform this game is on. Links are checked against official sources; we never host or mirror games.
- View on SteamSteamReleased$17.99
Download through the Steam app. A free Steam account is required.
Desktop · Steam
- View demo on BrowserBrowserDemo · Free browser demo: tutorials, standalone encounters, the core plotting, sensor, TDC and torpedo systems and a limited scenario generatorFree
Runs in a desktop browser. No download.
Browser (no download) · Official link verified Nov 3, 2026.
About Silent Shark
Silent Shark is a tactical submarine simulator set in the Pacific during the Second World War, played mostly on a tactical chart rather than from a 3D cockpit. You track ships by sound on the hydrophone, work out their course and speed from bearings over time, identify them through the periscope to get their mast height, estimate range with a working stadimeter and enter angle-on-bow, speed, bearing and distance into a Torpedo Data Computer before firing; then you try to slip away before destroyer escorts, which hunt you from their own sonar and hydrophone readings, find you. Thermal layers, sea state, weather and time of day affect detection. The full version adds a Pacific campaign with assigned patrol zones, radio intelligence, historical events such as early-war base losses, six submarines unlocked through reputation, a deck gun, a scenario editor, Steam Workshop mods, full controller support and, as the developer puts it, a cribbage mini-game for long patrols; the music is based on Holst's The Planets. The developer, John Goering, an indie developer from Berlin, says in a Hacker News comment that the project began as an experiment in letting OpenAI's Codex do literally all of the coding, and that apart from occasional CSS tweaks no code was touched by hand. Paid on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux since 12 Aug 2026; a free demo runs in the browser and on Steam.
Screenshots and art
Silent Shark key art · Steam store artwork
How it was built
VerifiedAsked on Hacker News whether any of it was vibe-coded, the developer replied that the project started in February 2026 as an experiment in prompting, to see how far they could get using Codex and “letting it do literally all the coding”, and that it went all the way: they say they have not touched a single line of code themselves, apart from tweaking some CSS from time to time. In a later comment the developer says the game design is their own and that AI was used heavily for the coding and for building their own tools to design ships, instrument dials and shipping lanes. No model is named.
- DeveloperComment of 15 Aug 2026 in the release thread: the design is the developer's own; AI was used heavily for the coding and for the developer's own design tools; the only AI graphics were clean-ups of existing historical maps. — Hacker News (epaga)
Solo-directed development with Codex writing the code, by the developer's account, from February 2026 to a public browser beta in May and the Steam release in August, about six months after work began. The game is a Vite/TypeScript web app, which is how the free version runs in a browser; the Windows, macOS, Linux and Steam Deck builds (and planned iOS and Android versions) are packaged with Electron. The developer says many instruments were modelled on real submarine instruments using public-domain WWII material, such as a Torpedo Data Computer manual and a Japanese merchant ship recognition book. Art: the developer said the only AI-generated images were clean-ups of historical maps; update 1.1.2 (26 Oct 2026) removed all three of them and draws those charts from the game's own data instead.
- Engine / framework
- No engine (Vite/TypeScript web app; desktop builds packaged with Electron)
- Languages
- TypeScript
- Team size
- Not disclosed
- Initial build time
- About 3 months of spare time to the public beta (developer's estimate, May 2026)Developer ReportedHacker News (epaga)
- Development time
- Not disclosed
- Development cost
- Not disclosed
- AI-written code
- Not disclosed
“I have not touched a single line of code myself (I have only tweaked some CSS from time to time).”- Developer's comment on the Show HN beta thread (Hacker News, 22 May 2026)
- Show HN: Silent Shark – tactical map-based WWII submarine sim
- v1.1.2 - Removed AI Images, Added Fathometer, Crew Voices (Steam news)
Verification notes: The AI-coding claim comes from the developer's own comment in the Show HN beta thread (22 May 2026, 18:00 UTC): Codex did literally all of the coding and no code was touched by hand apart from occasional CSS tweaks. The Hacker News account epaga is tied to the Steam developer John Goering by both Show HN posts, which link Steam app 4705650 and silentshark.app; the Steam page lists silentshark.app as the website and the site links back to Steam. Release date, price, platforms, languages and the developer's location from the Steam store page and store API on 4 Nov 2026; review figures from the store page the same day (recent reviews: 92% of 13). The Steam demo (app 4772370) is dated 31 May 2026 in the store API. The Steam page currently shows no AI-generated content disclosure; in the release thread the developer said the disclosed AI images were only clean-ups of historical maps and that Steam no longer asks for code to be disclosed, and the 1.1.2 update of 26 Oct 2026 says all three AI-generated images were removed. AI code share is not recorded as a number: the developer says all code apart from some CSS. Team size is not stated; the store page credits the game to John Goering alone. Show HN scores and comment counts are not recorded as metrics. Destroyer behaviour is scripted game logic; no source mentions generative AI running during play. The game was not played through.
Development history
- February 2026
Development starts as an experiment in letting Codex do all of the coding.
DeveloperHacker News (epaga) The developer posts a free public beta, playable in the browser, on Hacker News as a Show HN.
OfficialHacker News (epaga)A free demo is released on Steam.
OfficialSteamThe full version is released on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux, with a campaign; the developer posts it on Hacker News the same day.
Update 1.1.2 removes the game's three AI-generated images and adds a fathometer and crew voices.
OfficialSteam (Silent Shark news)
Game performance
Each figure measures something different — concurrent players, owners, downloads and sales are never interchangeable and are never added together. Labels show where each number comes from.
Steam
US$17.99 on the Steam store (US region) on 4 Nov 2026. Windows, macOS and Linux. A separate free demo is on Steam (app 4772370, released 31 May 2026).
All reviews as shown on the store page (“Very Positive”).
As shown on the store page (“97% of the 146 user reviews for this game are positive”).
Not publicly available: Concurrent players, Estimated owners, Copies sold, Gross revenue.
Browser (official site)
No public metrics recorded for this listing.
Not publicly available: Concurrent players (site), Monthly revenue, Gross revenue.
Reviews & rankings
Not yet reviewed by our editors.
Sources
| Source | Type | Published | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silent Shark on Steam Steam | Store page | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Silent Shark Demo on Steam Steam | Store page | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Silent Shark — WWII Pacific Submarine Simulator (official site) John Goering | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Show HN: I made a tactical map-based WWII submarine simulator (public beta) Hacker News (epaga) | Social post | May 18, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Developer's reply on time spent and vibe coding (Show HN beta thread) Hacker News (epaga) | Social post | May 22, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Show HN: Silent Shark – tactical map-based WWII submarine sim Hacker News (epaga) | Social post | Aug 12, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| v1.1.2 - Removed AI Images, Added Fathometer, Crew Voices Steam (Silent Shark news) | Devlog | Oct 26, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
Similar games
