# Minecraft 222 Hacker News commenters recommended Minecraft and 149 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 13 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 10 years (11 owners). **Verdict:** A lasting sandbox game that lets players make their own fun, best on servers with friends and with mods, though Microsoft account migrations and logins frustrate many. ## Why people recommend it - Great with friends on servers (7 comments): "set them up a Minecraft or ARK or whatever survival-crafter game server, and they can invite and play with their friends on it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45870890)) "the wider Minecraft community based on a constellation of public and semi-public servers. This is a lot more like Roblox." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46047854)) "It's also more fun on a server with friends, where it can be more about hanging out and doing something together" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49937876)) - Lets you make your own fun (5 comments): "its a very dead game on its own. they are still very intentional about adding and changing the tools by which you make your own fun though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48163001)) "It's really amazing how much Minecraft is becoming more and more a game engine on it's own rather than just a game." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48968812)) "it does not push the player towards any of its game systems, which allows the player to make up their own fun" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49640241)) - Huge mod and creator community (4 comments): "Java Minecraft doesn't have microtransactions, skinning your character is a matter of changing a file, and the plugin/mod support is huge." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48980097)) "Java would still be dominant in the content creation community and therefore still be the lifeblood of the game." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47075039)) "There's a whole community that plays on private servers and uses extensions for stuff like access control" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47071198)) - Lasting, engaging, culturally huge (5 comments): "Unlike dwarf fortress, minecraft is fun and engaging from minute zero, and exposes its systems to you naturally over time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49513951)) "those other games haven't become remotely close to the popularity of Minecraft, so Notch clearly did something right" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46301354)) "I like Minecraft, I play it occasionally, but I guess it's a game that has much more staying power than average." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47507942)) ## What people warn about - Account migration lost old purchases (7 comments): "If this had been minecraft, I'd have had to pay for the game again because I didn't convert my account." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49071839)) "they did the same thing with my Minecraft login that I had purchased before the EULA was in place; I've avoided their services like the plague since then" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46387860)) "hundred thousands if not millions of people who lost their Minecraft account due to the way Microsoft handled multiple successive account migrations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48836187)) - Painful Microsoft login and family setup (6 comments): "I couldn't run either version in Windows 11 without also signing into the MS store, so I decided Java version was better than nothing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46124349)) "It took over 8 hours to figure out how to get it stop constantly asking my kids for my master MS account password." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47256966)) "they've also introduced their unified login garbage that has almost made me give up Minecraft completely" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47483883)) - Growing monetization under Microsoft (2 comments): "They took a fun, harmless, and free game so that they could profit from it and they've been working at making it increasingly harmful ever since." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46049733)) "milk every last microtransaction and merchandising cent out of the property rather than actually listening to anyone and improving the game(s)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48629083)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Luanti](https://hackerapproved.com/p/luanti.md): 23 recommend - [No Man's Sky Cosmos](https://hackerapproved.com/p/no-man-s-sky-cosmos.md): 22 recommend - [Voxile](https://hackerapproved.com/p/voxile.md): 16 recommend - [Terraria](https://hackerapproved.com/p/terraria.md): 14 recommend - [Garry's Mod](https://hackerapproved.com/p/garry-s-mod.md): 12 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/store/minecraft-java-bedrock-edition-pc) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Minecraft", https://hackerapproved.com/p/minecraft/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).