# Beyond All Reason 76 Hacker News commenters recommended Beyond All Reason and 17 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 1 years (6 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** A free, open-source real-time strategy game in the Total Annihilation style, praised for depth, quality-of-life features and fun multiplayer. Critics mainly warn about a toxic player base. ## Why people recommend it - Helpful players in newbie lobbies (5 comments): "There were plenty of noob-specific / noob-friendly lobbies with a mix of helpful players and fellow casuals." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48619661)) "The most fun i had been in gaming . They teach each other and help each other , share unit , share economy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48622713)) "ive seen way more patience in "noob" lobbies than i would have expected for an online game" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48626238)) - Mature, deep, fun RTS gameplay (5 comments): "The game is very mature and well thought RTS. The user experience and performance is beyond anything on the market now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48618498)) "Best RTS ever made, in my subjective opinion, but incredibly toxic player base despite active moderation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48622325)) "Beyond All Reason is, as far as open-source RTS games go, a few orders of magnitude more fun and mature." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47119247)) - Free and open source (5 comments): "The multiplayer game (the thing available now) will remain free including all the updates and improvements to it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48619976)) "Also open source and free to play wo any of the dark patterns that pervert most modern multiplayer online games." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50046443)) "completely free and open source Total Annihilation/Supreme Commander remake which is great for nostalgia's sake" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46410075)) - Single player and PvE modes (4 comments): "there are stand alone scenerios you can play. There is also a fun swarm defense sort of thing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48619158)) "There are some single-player missions and modes that you can play to try it out." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50046587)) "The game also has a raptors PvE mode that's great fun, especially with friends." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48622821)) ## What people warn about - Toxic players and harsh flaming (3 comments): "Best RTS ever made, in my subjective opinion, but incredibly toxic player base despite active moderation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48622325)) "Great game, technically impressive, but the community can be quite mean and toxic." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48618604)) "my first setons/supreme match on bar I was literally being flamed out of the gate for not being totally optimal" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48622024)) - Feels like dated TA clone (2 comments): "BAR is a TA clone, missing out on the structural improvements from Forged Alliance" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50046513)) "BAR is just modern graphics TA. which just feels old and outdated to me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48619741)) - Dated engine limits players and scale (2 comments): "This prevents a huge number of people from playing the game due to the ancient streflop library" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48619698)) "BAR runs fine on low end CPUs...until you have like 2,000 units on speed metal" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47120033)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness](https://hackerapproved.com/p/warcraft-ii-tides-of-darkness.md): 51 recommend - [Total Annihilation](https://hackerapproved.com/p/total-annihilation.md): 48 recommend - [StarCraft](https://hackerapproved.com/p/starcraft.md): 36 recommend - [StarCraft II](https://hackerapproved.com/p/starcraft-ii.md): 32 recommend - [0 A.D.](https://hackerapproved.com/p/0-a-d.md): 30 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Beyond All Reason", https://hackerapproved.com/p/beyond-all-reason/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).