The best arcade games, according to hackers
6 arcade games were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 1 earns the Hacker Approved badge.
Top pick
The most recommended arcade game with the badge. Each figure is 2 people. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Fun and enjoyable to play
Fun retro biplane game with scan-line visuals and enjoyable flight dynamics that recall old arcade games. Critics note the plane feels slow and its turns too tight.
All 6 arcade games, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fly By retro biplane game | 22 | 7 | 76% | 4 | — | Approved |
| 2 | Sopwith | 18 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| 3 | Pac-Man | 9 | 2 | 82% | 5 | — | — |
| 4 | Atari Tempest arcade game | 8 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 5 | Pac-Man, but You're the Ghost | 5 | 10 | 33% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 5 | Beakdown | 5 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same arcade game in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to arcade games that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.