Luanti
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 12 sandbox games by recommenders
Free, fully open-source sandbox game and engine where people build, play multiplayer games and write their own mods. Critics say it is not as good as Minecraft and its controls feel rough.
Free, fully open-source sandbox game and engine where people build, play multiplayer games and write their own mods. Critics say it is not as good as Minecraft and its controls feel rough.
27 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 23
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 85%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 23 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 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
Free and fully open source
“It's all open source. Download it and try some of the different games.”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Luanti removed from Google Play due to baseless AI copyright notice” “It's entirely built from scratch and a true FLOSS project.”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Luanti removed from Google Play due to baseless AI copyright notice” “The engine itself is a long-standing open-source engine”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “Luanti removed from Google Play due to baseless AI copyright notice” Fun to play with friends
“i love luanti, xonotic, openarena, veloren, etc, and play them frequently with some friends”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux” “i've got loads of hours in games like veloren, luanti, xonotic, pokeMMO, and osu!”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux” Built for users to extend
“Luanti let you make multiplayer games/mods too.”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “European "age verification" "app" forcing everyone to use Android or iOS” “built ground-up to be expandable by users”
Comment from 9 Sep 2026 in “Microsoft/TracerAI withdraws copyright takedown against Luanti” “Install Luanti with Minetest (open source minecraft), and instruct your agent to write a mod”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “We ran AI agent swarms in Minecraft and Mindustry” Kid-friendly mining and crafting
“it has the mining/crafting/construction bits the kids care about”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Minecraft: Java Edition now uses SDL3” “Just give them a raspberry pi and show them gcompris and luanti.”
Comment from 9 Nov 2025 in “Ask HN: How would you set up a child’s first Linux computer?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Seen as a Minecraft clone
“I love Luanti. Is it as good as minecraft? No, not really, but I appreciate it's existence”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Minecraft: Java Edition now uses SDL3” “There is luanti which is a minecraft alternative”
Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “Roblox devs now need a subscription to share their games freely” “It's a clone, and not a subtle one either.”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Luanti removed from Google Play due to baseless AI copyright notice” Controls and game feel lacking
“the client controls were not very polished and they got frustrated”
Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “Roblox devs now need a subscription to share their games freely” “it was completely devoid of any features to improve the game feel”
Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “Minecraft: Java Edition 26.2, the first version with Vulkan 1.2”
Other sandbox games people recommend
The four most recommended other sandbox 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minecraft | 222 | 149 | 60% | 13 | 10 yrs11 owners | — |
| LuantiThis page | 23 | 4 | 85% | 7 | — | Approved |
| No Man's Sky Cosmos | 22 | 31 | 42% | 1 | — | — |
| Voxile | 16 | 1 | 94% | 3 | — | — |
| Terraria | 14 | 4 | 78% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
26 of the 31 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Install Luanti with Minetest (open source minecraft), and instruct your agent to write a mod”
“in recent memory we have Raku, Kodi, Luanti, Valkey, and now Nura.”
“built ground-up to be expandable by users”
“The engine itself is a long-standing open-source engine”
“Luanti is a respectable platform.”
“It's entirely built from scratch and a true FLOSS project.”
“It's all open source. Download it and try some of the different games.”
“It's a clone, and not a subtle one either.”
“It's great little tool to teach coding.”
“it has the mining/crafting/construction bits the kids care about”
“I love Luanti. Is it as good as minecraft? No, not really, but I appreciate it's existence”
“works well if you are willing to move entirely to Mac/Windows/Linux clients”
“My son pulled off his own multiplayer game, by mixing some existing mods and writing a pinch of Lua.”
“Luanti let you make multiplayer games/mods too.”
“the new name of MineTest, which is closer to the Roblox experience”
“why the thriving community around Minecraft doesn't get behind Luanti or a similar open source "clone"”
“it was completely devoid of any features to improve the game feel”
“S&box, Hytale, Luanti are all fun but they're all installs, which kills the sharing loop”
“Is not low-poly but I think it has some support with some full games”
“the client controls were not very polished and they got frustrated”
“my incentives, are aligned with the people who made it”
“There is luanti which is a minecraft alternative”
“Luanti had an annoying habit of regenerating terrain while I was still walking on it.”
“i've got loads of hours in games like veloren, luanti, xonotic, pokeMMO, and osu!”
“i love luanti, xonotic, openarena, veloren, etc, and play them frequently with some friends”
“Just give them a raspberry pi and show them gcompris and luanti.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.