# Rocket League Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/rocket-league/ 17 people recommended Rocket League in Hacker News comments, 6 had mixed feelings and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 12 months, in 15 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Fun competitive car soccer that runs well on Linux via Proton, though Epic's removal of the native Linux client and botting problems draw criticism. Summary written by Claude from 32 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 31 of those comments still count. ## Why people recommend it - Runs well on Linux via Proton (6 comments in the sample): "found it ran smoother (the random stutters I have suffered through on Windows are not there on Linux" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47609924)) "I haven't played it since the buyout either, but I'm told it works perfectly with Proton." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48573460)) "It works perfectly on Steam using Proton if you have it there" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784263)) - Match replays help review gameplay (2 comments in the sample): "saving rocket league replays to watch yourself play from your opponent's perspective was super helpful in 1v1" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47822568)) "Rocket League is a relatively recent game that allows match recording. It’s nice." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47822678)) - Players keep coming back (2 comments in the sample): "Rocket league is one of my favourite games" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48843329)) "it keeps me coming back for more" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48412552)) ## What people warn about - Native Linux client removed (4 comments in the sample): "Rocket league used to have a Linux build, then epic decided to kill that off entirely" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50106590)) "Epic bought Psyonix and immediately removed the game clients for linux and mac os." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48571635)) "Epic killed off the native Linux client and pulled Rocket League from Steam" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48258970)) - Botting hurts ranked play (2 comments in the sample): "the botting issue that was so bad lately it pushed pros out of ssl and severely messed up MMR" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48625180)) "AI good enough to consistently beat the best players in the world is now common and wreaking havoc on the upper ranks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47203184)) - Requires Epic store and account (2 comments in the sample): "I'm not subjecting myself, or my kid, to Windows and the Epic store just to get at it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46425303)) "which is now unusable until I agree to give them my PID and create an account" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46449243)) - Buggy, crashes when joining games (1 comment in the sample): "the "game crashes randomly when joining games" bug too" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47822961)) ## Other video games people recommend - [Helldivers 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/helldivers-2/): 33 recommend, 14 mixed, 33 criticize - [Triple-A Minesweeper](https://hackerapproved.com/p/triple-a-minesweeper/): 31 recommend, 8 mixed, 24 criticize - [Quake II](https://hackerapproved.com/p/quake-2/): 25 recommend, 5 mixed, 7 criticize - [The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/witcher-3/): 22 recommend, 3 mixed, 5 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, "Rocket League", https://hackerapproved.com/p/rocket-league/ (17 recommend, 6 mixed, 8 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.