# Batocera

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Batocera and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free retro gaming OS that people find easy to set up and use, even for kids. It is gamepad-driven, so devices like touchpads may not work.

## Why people recommend it

- Easy to set up and use (2 comments): "An easy at home setup is Raspberry Pi running Batocera and Zaparoo with NFC cards." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46594712)) "The kids love it and it's easy to use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46590846))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Bazzite](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bazzite.md): 267 recommend
- [SteamOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/steamos.md): 145 recommend
- [Jovian-NixOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jovian-nixos.md): 6 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Batocera", https://hackerapproved.com/p/batocera/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).