The Giant Pixel Art Map of New York

Isometric NYC is a huge pixel art map of New York City - and I mean huge. Anyone who lives in, or knows NYC can spend hours exploring this map, zooming in on their favorite neighborhoods, streets, and landmarks, all reimagined in a classic old-school pixel art style. From iconic skyscrapers to tucked-away corners, Isometric NYC has captured the city block by block in isometric perspective.

Of course, creating an image of the Big Apple at this scale and level of detail required the use of AI to generate the individual tiles. For those curious about how it was made, cannoneyed has written an extensive, behind-the-scenes account of the entire process, from beginning to end. The TL;DR is that an image AI was used to generate isometric pixel art based on the Google Maps’ 3D view of the city.

I really love Isometric NYC. As an aging gamer, I’m a huge fan of the retro digital style of isometric art, and the sheer scale of this rendition of New York is deeply impressive. Obviously, Isometric NYC was never intended to function as a map - but since this is a map blog, I suppose it’s incumbent upon me to point out why it doesn’t quite work as one.

For me, the main issue is that NYC’s dense street grid becomes too visually cluttered in isometric form. Overlapping buildings and vertical elements obscure streets, intersections, and routes. One of the great joys of pixel art is the sheer abundance of detail, and Isometric NYC revels in that richness. However, what makes it so compelling as an illustration also makes it less effective as a navigational tool. It’s best appreciated as a celebration of the city, rather than as a guide to moving through it.