# Noita

13 Hacker News commenters recommended Noita and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People praise its physics-driven pixel simulation, randomized wand spell-crafting and chaotic runs that keep surprising players. The steep difficulty and unforgiving early game are the common caveats.

## Why people recommend it

- Every-pixel physics simulation runs well (2 comments): "they managed to balance an "every pixel is simulated" physics engine and have it run quite well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46783157)) "Now I also play Noita, which also has the same powder-based physics" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46782983))
- Chaotic, fun, unpredictable gameplay (2 comments): "One of the most chaotic and fun games I've played!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46210402)) "Noita is mad, in the best sort of way." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49779520))

## What people warn about

- Hard to get past early game (1 comments): "I could never grok Noita, I spent many hours, but I can't get past the first part." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47534184))
- Annoying damage reflection mechanic (1 comments): "damage reflection was one of the many insanely annoying things about that game" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48126916))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [NetHack](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nethack.md): 60 recommend
- [Chess-Inspired Roguelike](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chess-inspired-roguelike.md): 33 recommend
- [Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dungeon-crawl-stone-soup.md): 16 recommend
- [Xs of Y](https://hackerapproved.com/p/xs-of-y.md): 14 recommend
- [Caves of Qud](https://hackerapproved.com/p/caves-of-qud.md): 10 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Noita", https://hackerapproved.com/p/noita/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).