# BZFlag

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/bzflag/

6 people recommended BZFlag in Hacker News comments and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 12 months, in 2 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

5 of the 6 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Battlezone Online: BZFlag in the Browser”.

**Verdict:** Free, open source multiplayer tank shooter that people remember fondly and still play on a smaller, active community.

Summary written by Claude from 8 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Nostalgia for past multiplayer gaming (2 comments in the sample): "I used to love bzflags. It’s still being developed and it’s a great game." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47454181)) "there's a real hit of nostalgia" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50176455))
- Still developed with small active community (1 comment in the sample): "Come take a look, the community shrank over the years but we're still having fun." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50177374))

## Other multiplayer shooters people recommend

- [Arc Raiders](https://hackerapproved.com/p/arc-raiders/): 44 recommend, 7 mixed, 10 criticize
- [Counter-Strike](https://hackerapproved.com/p/counter-strike/): 19 recommend, 10 mixed, 17 criticize
- [Counter-Strike 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/counter-strike-2/): 18 recommend, 8 mixed, 17 criticize
- [Marathon by Bungie](https://hackerapproved.com/p/marathon/): 13 recommend, 2 mixed, 13 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "BZFlag", https://hackerapproved.com/p/bzflag/ (6 recommend, 0 mixed, 2 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 3 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.