Hole Punch
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 4 physics games
A fun, addictive spaceship game where you sling around gravitational fields and black holes, and players say it is more engaging than expected. The most common caveat is imprecise controls on mobile and iPad.
A fun, addictive spaceship game where you sling around gravitational fields and black holes, and players say it is more engaging than expected. The most common caveat is imprecise controls on mobile and iPad.
34 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 27
- criticize it
- 7
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 27 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.9 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fun and addictive gameplay
“Very fun. Got far enough to need the black holes to provide the starting motion and gave up.”
Comment from 4 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields” “This is somehow surprisingly fun, a good game to play with kids.”
Comment from 3 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields” “I just spent a ton of time on this.”
Comment from 3 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields” - Comment from 4 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields”
- Comment from 3 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields”
- Comment from 3 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields”
Delightful, charming look and feel
“This was delightful but I wanted it portrait as well and on iOS and w haptics!”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields” “I enjoy this game, congrats on making it!”
Comment from 3 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields” “thanks for the refreshing skeumorphism”
Comment from 3 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Imprecise or broken mobile and iPad controls
“It launches on mobile safari but doesn’t seem playable, landscape on mobile safari sucks.”
Comment from 3 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields” “on Safari desktop clicking uses up matter too quickly to set precisely”
Comment from 3 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields” “Doesn't work on mobile safari. Tapping on a blackhole does nothing”
Comment from 4 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields” - Comment from 4 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields”
- Comment from 3 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields”
- Comment from 4 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields”
Cannot subtract mass or delete holes
“I keep accidentally adding new ones when all I want to do is adjust an existing one.”
Comment from 4 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields” “if i overshoot, i can't do anything subtract mass or delete a hole”
Comment from 3 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields” “The ability to subtract mass is definitely needed.”
Comment from 3 Oct 2026 in “Hole Punch: Sling your spaceship around gravitational fields”
Other physics games people recommend
The three most recommended other physics games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hole PunchThis page | 27 | 7 | 79% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Sandboxels | 10 | 2 | 83% | 1 | — | — |
| 2D Vehicles | 6 | 1 | 86% | 1 | — | — |
| A Slower Speed of Light by MIT Game Lab | 5 | 1 | 83% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
28 of the 38 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I really hope you enjoy playing it as much as you did the web version!”
“This was delightful but I wanted it portrait as well and on iOS and w haptics!”
“You may enjoy looking at another recent game”
“Being able to actually drag a hole makes it a little easier as well..!”
“I keep accidentally adding new ones when all I want to do is adjust an existing one.”
“Very fun. Got far enough to need the black holes to provide the starting motion and gave up.”
“Same on the latest Chrome on Android.”
“Doesn't work on mobile safari. Tapping on a blackhole does nothing”
“frustrating game, feels half done”
“last hole punch was crazy it took lots of time”
“Well, this was (*)@&#$@# addictive.”
“Very cool. Had some trouble figuring it out on iPad.”
“I just spent a ton of time on this.”
“Way, way more fun than expected.”
“thanks for the refreshing skeumorphism”
“the controls on mobile are a bit too imprecise”
“It launches on mobile safari but doesn’t seem playable, landscape on mobile safari sucks.”
“Definitely a fun game kudos!”
“This is somehow surprisingly fun, a good game to play with kids.”
“Fantastic! Should add an (optional) instruction level”
“I enjoy this game, congrats on making it!”
“on Safari desktop clicking uses up matter too quickly to set precisely”
“The ability to subtract mass is definitely needed.”
“if i overshoot, i can't do anything subtract mass or delete a hole”
“It's nice but clearly designed for desktop”
“Their main language is js, which makes it difficult to embed into anything but js/ts applications.”
“Things like HolePunch have a lot of potential here, but you'd need an Iran-only DHT, and it's just not deployed at scale.”
“Use something like Pears / Holepunch / Hypercore / Dat”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.