# Counter-Strike 30 Hacker News commenters recommended Counter-Strike and 19 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Skill-based team shooter with a long-lived community and free-to-play access. Most common caveat: cheaters and bots on official servers. ## Why people recommend it - Rewards aim and skill (3 comments): "I loved that what you built by playing these games was not digital wealth but physical skill" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46280544)) "I even prefer the original CS over most of today's FPS games" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49247295)) "scouts and knives was the ultimate aim trainer" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49002721)) - Long-lived, active community (3 comments): "Counter-Strike 1.6 has long ended its development but it has (or had) a prolific community servers to this day" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48567264)) "It seems to keep older players well while still getting enough new ones." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47514711)) "counter strike 1.3, starcraft had very lasting user base" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820457)) - Free to play, cosmetic skins (3 comments): "There is 0% pay to win, if anything the skins are a disadvantage because they usually stand out." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48046424)) "all the core gameplay stuff in Dota and CS and be totally free for the average player" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46139645)) "Counter Strike meanwhile has item skins which don't impact the game." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48637510)) - Addictive and fun with friends (3 comments): "CS seem semi-accidental but the post death chatting gave it a little something I never got from other fps games." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48632872)) "dethroned as the best time-waster in our lives when the Counter-Strike beta came out" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46210882)) "pretty much became our lives" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47418074)) ## What people warn about - Cheaters and aimbots on servers (6 comments): "there were already a lot of cheaters and a cheater ecosystem that still exists to this day" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47998373)) "Difference in the amount cheating between counter strike and valorant is just massive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48132373)) "Counterstrike and TF2 have absurd problems with bots and cheats on official servers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49938667)) - Skin gambling and loot boxes (5 comments): "Valve makes 100x as much money with 1/100th of the effort by peddling Counter Strike skins" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45850197)) "Counter-Strike especially has a pretty nasty gambling scene that Valve refuses to control" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48038441)) "Valve has and continues to make lots of money from loot boxes in both CS and TF2" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48042122)) - Boring without other players (2 comments): "So much fun! Agreed with you though, it gets a bit boring without other users to play with." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50125242)) "has already been done in cs and valorant, but it really only works well with small player count" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48815442)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Arc Raiders](https://hackerapproved.com/p/arc-raiders.md): 52 recommend - [Fortnite](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fortnite.md): 33 recommend - [Counter-Strike 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/counter-strike-2.md): 27 recommend - [Overwatch 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/overwatch.md): 22 recommend - [Team Fortress 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/team-fortress-2.md): 17 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Counter-Strike", https://hackerapproved.com/p/counter-strike/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).