This interview was conducted and transcribed by Radha RH
It’s not every day you come across a parking-themed video game, let alone one that takes Joni Mitchell’s “pave paradise and put up a parking lot” lyrics as a challenge rather than a lament. Yet that’s exactly what Hilko Janssen has created with Car Park Capital, a game where you play as a parking tycoon hell bent on a mission to convert your city to the gospel of abundant free parking. Equal parts addictive simulation and biting satire, the game will have you laughing… until you realize how much of our world really does look like this.
In this interview, Janssen discusses how living in the Netherlands shaped his vision for the game, why he cloaked sharp critique in bright, cheerful visuals, and how Car Park Capital turns parking-lot dystopia into strangely compelling gameplay.
How did you end up making a video game about parking?
A few years back, when I was at university, we had an assignment to make a software application; nothing fancy, just something that could simulate a parking garage. It was supposed to show how full the garage was at different times of day when visitors arrived. I was working with two other students, and we finished early, so we thought, why not turn it into a game. And we did just that! It became this fun little project.
Fast forward to about two years ago when I thought it would be cool to revisit that idea. At that time I’d just watched ‘Give Yourself the Green Light’, an old pro-car film from the U.S. that a YouTube channel I follow called ‘Not Just Bikes’ mentioned in one of their videos. That film, plus my old university project, got me thinking that maybe it’s time to make a proper game about parking garages.
How far along are you with the video game? Is it ready to launch?
That’s a tough one. People ask me that a lot, but honestly, I don’t know. It could still take over a year. I’ve been working on it for about two years now in my spare time. I used to work at a Virtual Reality game studio that made games like Metro Awakening, but I’ve just decided to go full-time on this project, so hopefully things will move faster from here.
Could you walk me through your process? What did you do first?
I started by building a rendering engine that could mimic a classic isometric style. Then I added cars, made them drive around, let them park and bit by bit more features came in. I started posting videos of what I made on social media and people seemed to really like it. That’s when it started becoming something bigger than I originally intended. I think the best projects often start out like that, by following your curiosity.
What are some aesthetic choices you have made in the game?
The aesthetics are very much based on RollerCoaster Tycoon that have classic, colorful, and bright graphics. There’s nostalgia there for a lot of people, including me. I like that it feels cheerful, even though the subject matter—car dependency—is a bit grim underneath. That contrast creates a bit of satire. The whole game presents car dependency as this wonderful, futuristic thing, when in reality it’s not. I even experimented with darker, dystopian color palettes, but it wasn’t as fun. The humor and irony work better when everything looks happy and optimistic on the surface. I’m also designing the cars to look like they’re from the 1960s, in bright, flower-power colors. It fits the retro vibe and makes the game a little weirder and funnier.
What are some challenges you’ve encountered up until now?
The biggest challenge which I think applies to most city-builder-type games is traffic simulation. It’s easy for things to get congested or for deadlocks to happen. While those situations can be funny in a game they’re also frustrating for players, so I’ve had to build in little tricks to avoid it getting out of hand. Multi-lane roads are another headache I haven’t fully tackled yet. I’m not even sure it’s worth adding, but if I do, I’m sure players will be able to joke, “Just one more lane, bro.” Another tricky part is multi-story parking garages. Since the game is in a 2.5D isometric style, it can be hard for players to perceive depth, so I need to design building tools that make it clear and intuitive.
Can you explain the gameplay to me? How does one win?
It’ll most likely be a single-player game, where you act as a kind of tycoon or city planner working for the automobile industry. Your job is to build parking garages and push car dependency. The citizens in the city are simulated by the computer, so you oversee the whole city from an isometric view. You can build garages, place billboards with car propaganda, and manage traffic. As for winning, you’ll have targets to hit; maybe it’s reaching a certain number of parking spaces, or keeping occupancy at 90 percent, or selling a certain number of cars. It’s all about making money through car dependency while trying to keep the citizens just happy enough not to revolt. I’m also planning different maps with different conditions. A sprawling American suburb with endless surface parking might have different goals than a dense European city where you have to build vertically.
In what ways does the game simulate real-life frustrations related to cars and driving?
In many ways. For starters, cars will sometimes take up multiple parking spaces by parking badly, like diagonally. I’ve just built a bug where some cars don’t park straight and people loved it when I posted a video online. It reminded them of real life. I might also add other little annoyances, like someone parking in a place that blocks an important road, or someone endlessly circling a full parking lot and complaining. I think these little details help capture the absurdity of car dependency, making the game more relatable and humorous.
What kind of research went into making the game?
It’s not meant to be hyper-realistic so I haven’t done intensive research into parking logistics. I’ve been collecting bizarre urban planning ideas I come across online — like the proposal to build a car ramp up the Eiffel Tower.
You live in the Netherlands. Does this influence the design of this game
Car dependency is a lot lesser here in the Netherlands than in the United States but it wasn’t always like this. In the 60s and 70s car dependency was in fact on the rise here too. Where I live there were plans to fill in Amsterdam’s canals with concrete to make roads and highways. That never happened here thankfully but it did in a nearby city only to turn it back into a canal decades later so it went from water to highway and back to water. Living in a place where you can see both what was lost and what was recovered definitely plays into the way I think about making this game.
Had you thought of game design as a form of activism before this project?
Not really. This game kind of became that on its own. At first, it was just a parking lot simulator. Then, American cities with their endless parking lots became a big inspiration. I haven’t played many games with this kind of activist edge, though I’ve seen games that do the opposite, where you start in a dystopia and try to fix things. This game flips that on its head. I suppose even Monopoly was originally intended as a satire of capitalism, so it’s a tradition I’m happy to be part of.
