Lansing's truck-munching bridge Big Penny now has a video game

Work is underway to restore the decorations on a Lansing bridge known as Big Penny after it was vandalized this spring. 

But the fandom around the so-called “truck-munching” bridge has not slowed down because Big Penny is now the star of a new video game. 

The bridge on Pennsylvania Avenue is infamous for trucks getting stuck underneath it because of its low clearance.

In 2024, a  prank group known as STUPID-Lansing turned its reputation for eating trucks into reality by adding big googly eyes and foam teeth to the bridge. 

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STUPID-Lansing

Lansing resident Matt Moss manages the website 12ft0.com (a reference to the bridge's clearance height) which compiles Big Penny’s history and fandom. 

"I think it's something good that came out of something bad, so like a sense of community where everybody comes together," Moss said. "It's just all in good fun."

He doesn’t have a background in video game development but wanted to give it a shot . It took him a few days and some help from AI tools to code and put together the online game.

"It was more of one of my many what-if projects to just give it a try, see what happens, and go from there ," he said.

What he made is simple: cars keep passing by the bridge but, of course, trucks get stuck under it.

For each truck, players earn points to use to get a warning sign (that vehicles ignore), decorations and a radio to call in even more trucks.

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The game starts in 1928 when the bridge was built.

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Each truck munched earns players a point to spend at Big Penny's shop.

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The game includes references to Lansing's Potter Park Zoo and local businesses like Deadtime Stories in REO Town.

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There are blink and you'll miss it easter eggs in the game like an Oscar "Mayor" hot dog truck.

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The game incorporates real-life events like a party held in 2025 in honor of Big Penny munching on 100 trucks and a vandal defacing the bridge's decorations in April of 2026.

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A holiday level features trucks carrying Christmas trees and Lansing's big red balls ornament sculpture.

You might also notice easter eggs like logos for local businesses and an 8-bit tribute to a song written in honor of the bridge. That's as the game takes you from 1928 when Big Penny was built to the present. There's even a holiday level where you can decorate the bridge with a Santa hat and a string of lights.

To skip between levels, Moss says clicking the bridge's height sign 15 times is key.

Moss says more than 100 people have checked out the game so far. And he’s open to adding more levels while working on new ways to boost Big Penny’s profile. 

"I'm kind of looking into setting up like a Big Penny live camera type of thing, because my background is IT and programming ."

So, whether it’s on Pennsylvania Avenue or inside a video game, Big Penny’s legend keeps growing.