# Roblox 77 Hacker News commenters recommended Roblox and 251 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 5 years (8 owners). **Verdict:** People recommend it for free, easy-to-start games and a route into programming; the most common caveat is child safety and scammy experiences. ## Why people recommend it - Taught people programming and game development (6 comments): "Roblox will be responsible for more people learning programming than essentially any other single entity" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49525428)) "playing Roblox got me into game development, and helped to teach me the basics of general programming" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47334871)) "Playing Roblox at age 10 shortly after it launched is what inspired me to learn to code." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47182088)) - Fun, playable games (5 comments): "Roblox is mostly trash content form my perspective, but there are definitely gems in terms of playability." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50266270)) "fills the niche for freemium, fun 3D experiences that run on basically any platform or device" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47504419)) "today's Roblox games tend to be a lot more enlightening, innovative and entertaining" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46048349)) - Creators earn a share of revenue (4 comments): "The actual figure, calculated at https://create.roblox.com/docs/monetize-experiences >, is 67% given to developers, making for a near industry-standard 33% cut." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47329563)) "It's just a different deal with more supportive ways of earning and different parties paying for the same resources." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47352703)) "Roblox's economic model has a redistributive nature that isn't common in other economies." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47332061)) - Quick to start playing (3 comments): "Roblox wins because I can go from typing in roblox.com into my browser and be playing a game with a friend in under 20s" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47511851)) "The big thing my friend said that Roblox has over Fortnight or any other gaming platform is ease of installation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47338954)) "It's stil a hassle compared to Downloading free Roblox and start playing and having the same experience across devices." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47333395)) ## What people warn about - Child safety and inappropriate content (6 comments): "it can be faked and it isn't great to get people - esp kids - in the habit of sharing video of themselves to websites" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46773758)) "Roblox is the 2025 equivalent of AOL chat rooms circa 1998. You should assume that a child playing it will encounter the worst of humanity" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46018580)) "Roblox creates a kids casino, but if you as the parent want a safer, saner experience for your kid you have to navigate endless settings" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49966448)) - Gambling-like spending aimed at kids (5 comments): "teenagers make either simple games or free copies of more popular games and then fill them with microtransactions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50138797)) "Roblox creates a kids casino, but if you as the parent want a safer, saner experience for your kid you have to navigate endless settings" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49966448)) "Nintendo would never turn away money, unless they feel it would damage their reputation as a company you can trust your children with." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46013844)) - Most content seen as low quality (4 comments): "Roblox is mostly trash content form my perspective, but there are definitely gems in terms of playability." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50266270)) "Most of roblox is a trash fire, but there a couple of games that seem pretty fun" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46049365)) "Roblox games have a shelf life of days, getting to a month or more you either have to produce days worth of content in less than a day" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47332212)) - Company seen as exploitative (4 comments): "none of this retroactively applies to the games already frequented by 10M U12's every week, because why would they actually follow the spirit of their own rules if it harms them financially." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48563841)) "Roblox is already an experiences cesspool and should have dropped the "every kid should be an entrepreneur" thing a long time ago." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47765973)) "I hate Roblox with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns, and wish they and their business model to be utterly destroyed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47335625)) ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.roblox.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Roblox", https://hackerapproved.com/p/roblox/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).