# Return of the Obra Dinn

25 Hacker News commenters recommended Return of the Obra Dinn and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Praised for its original detective puzzles, story and distinctive dithered art style. Common caveat: the visual style causes eye strain, motion sickness or discomfort for some players.

## Why people recommend it

- Original detective puzzles (5 comments): "It's truly the perfect detective game. There are so many original ideas brought to life here" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47452262)) "An incredible kind of puzzle, oozing with its own weird style." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47447855)) "Original, phenomenal games covering damm near every genre" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46817864))
- Striking unique art style (4 comments): "I was really impressed by the art at first, taking joy in exploring that as much as the scenes themselves." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47444629)) "Obra Dinn's in-game dithering is also a cool entry for clever, tailor-made dithering in general" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46485212)) "how dithering can be pushed to the limits" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45921780))
- Strong story and characters (3 comments): "watching most recorded Let's Plays of Return Of The Obra Dinn. The game uses a couple of very "game logic" contrivances to enable the writing to focus on very organic, real world logic." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45960895)) "All of these games tell a story, each of this game does it in its own, magnificent way." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46818886)) "the story and the characters" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47445166))
- Loved overall, often bought right away (3 comments): "Incredible game, I am saving it for a few years from now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47454989)) "I appreciated it so much I instantly bought the game." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47447757)) "One of the best games I've ever played." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47452197))

## What people warn about

- Art style hurts gameplay (2 comments): "the art style got in the way of the gameplay for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47444005)) "the visual style ruined a great game" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47448059))
- Visual style causes motion sickness (2 comments): "the visual style made me feel physically ill to the point I couldn't continue with the game" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47451057)) "the art style gave me motion sickness during and after each session" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47444119))
- Flicker and eye strain (2 comments): "flickering not of the dithering pattern but of the edges, which feel" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47444528)) "playing it require me to strain my eyes too much" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47444158))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Outer Wilds](https://hackerapproved.com/p/outer-wilds.md): 65 recommend
- [enclose.horse](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enclose-horse.md): 64 recommend
- [The Witness](https://hackerapproved.com/p/witness.md): 60 recommend
- [Braid](https://hackerapproved.com/p/braid.md): 36 recommend
- [Blue Prince](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blue-prince.md): 30 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Return of the Obra Dinn", https://hackerapproved.com/p/return-of-the-obra-dinn/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).