# Google Flight Simulator

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-flight-simulator/

6 people recommended Google Flight Simulator in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 12 months, in 1 thread. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

6 of the 6 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Google Flight Simulator”.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a fun, charming arcade-style flyer whose controls work normally on desktop. Critics say the flight model is too lenient and not a real simulator.

Summary written by Claude from 11 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 10 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Fun, charming arcade-style game (2 comments in the sample): "they brought something fun and charming forward" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48541685)) "It'a an arcade game and it's fun" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48543789))
- Controls work normally on desktop (1 comment in the sample): "Controls work normally for me on a desktop" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48543087))

## What people warn about

- Flight model too lenient, not realistic (3 comments in the sample): "calling this a flight simulator is doing a disservice to the communities and efforts putting in an immense amount of work to make actual flight…" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48548486)) "Bit disappointing how lazy the implementation is though, you never fall out of the sky even with throttle at 0%" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48541737)) "whoever did the controls for this doesn't understand how airplanes work" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48542032))
- Laggy or spinning controls (2 comments in the sample): "the controls got really laggy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48543808)) "It doesn't seem to work very well - my plane is spinning around like crazy and I can't stop the spinning." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48543183))
- Weaker than Microsoft Flight Simulator (2 comments in the sample): "If only they took this seriously as a competitor to Microsoft Flight Simulator" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48543685)) "this seems way worse than the one in the desktop version" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48569842))

## Other flight simulators people recommend

- [Microsoft Flight Simulator](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-flight-simulator/): 13 recommend, 7 mixed, 8 criticize
- [Comanche by NovaLogic](https://hackerapproved.com/p/comanche/): 8 recommend, 2 mixed, 2 criticize
- [F-15 Strike Eagle II](https://hackerapproved.com/p/f-15-strike-eagle-ii/): 8 recommend, 2 mixed, 1 criticize
- [DCS World](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dcs-world/): 5 recommend, 2 mixed, 2 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, "Google Flight Simulator", https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-flight-simulator/ (6 recommend, 2 mixed, 6 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.