# Magic: The Gathering Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/magic-the-gathering/ 16 people recommended Magic: The Gathering in Hacker News comments, 9 had mixed feelings and 25 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 12 months, in 10 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Criticized more than recommended: critics most often say it releases too many costly sets; those who recommend it cite its strategy, deck building, and replay value and a shared social game. Summary written by Claude from the comments below. ## What people warn about - Too many sets and products (4 comments in the sample): "I don't like the sheer amount of product they're pumping out every year now" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47926847)) "Wizards has done a poor job since the Hasbro acquisition of doing much else besides shitting out product after product too fast with poor balance" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47051305)) "People get extremely angry when Magic The Gathering charges more money, for more exclusive products, in more frequently occurring releases." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46195895)) - Monetization pushes costly exclusive products (2 comments in the sample): "Increasingly, it feels like Magic design and product is focused on extracting money from the whales at the price of hollowing out their playerbase." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45779427)) "have a straightforwardly more evil monetization strategy, since you need to do gambling there to even play the game" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46139645)) - Balance and power creep problems (2 comments in the sample): "planeswalkers were the beginning of the end for me, and its been a non-stop slide of power creep and paid promotions ever since" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48227869)) "Back in the day, you could try out new things and play 10-20 turn games where both sides had winning chances." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48621790)) - Unrelated franchise crossovers (2 comments in the sample): "when they introduced Dr. Who, Transformers, My Little Pony, and a whole bunch of other crap into a game about wizards fighting in a fantasy…" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47926661)) "at least with old cards you don't have to contend with Sephiroth, the Ninja Turtles, and My Little Pony" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48222871)) ## Why people recommend it - Strategy and deck construction depth (2 comments in the sample): "Getting deep into card advantage, deck construction, and hypergeometric theory has been an absolute blast" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47695860)) "I like the game because of the strategy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48656444)) - Long-lasting replay value from packs (2 comments in the sample): "We have had the decks well over a couple of decades after we bought them!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47051195)) "There's near endless opportunity for replay value in 3 packs per person!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48222986)) - Social play at a shared table (2 comments in the sample): "we could sit around the table, see and talk to each other instead of through the screen" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48292304)) "Magic is best played in a shared house." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48225238)) - Skills that transfer to real life (2 comments in the sample): "I have always felt lucky to have learned C and Magic: The Gathering at the same time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47917807)) "Compared to chess, Magic: The Gathering ability transfers much better to real life." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49647795)) ## Other card games people recommend - [Inscryption](https://hackerapproved.com/p/inscryption/): 10 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize - [Solitaire Alone Together](https://hackerapproved.com/p/solitaire-alone-together/): 10 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize - [Flip 7 card game](https://hackerapproved.com/p/flip-7/): 7 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize - [Uno card game](https://hackerapproved.com/p/uno/): 7 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 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, "Magic: The Gathering", https://hackerapproved.com/p/magic-the-gathering/ (16 recommend, 9 mixed, 25 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.