# Skyrim 25 Hacker News commenters recommended Skyrim and 21 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. **Verdict:** An open-world role-playing game with a large, richly detailed world that people keep returning to for years after release. The most common caveat is bugs, crashes and a world some find repetitive. ## Why people recommend it - Immersive, detailed world and lore (5 comments): "we aren't expecting an engaging game as much as a fun world sandbox set in the ES universe" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45850299)) "A lot of details that would fly past most players' attention are quite thought through." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46944523)) "Skyrim is a richly detailed world with an engine that allows that level of interaction" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49417463)) - Lots to discover and long play (2 comments): "Skyrim was good in that it felt "epic", you could put so many quality hours into it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45849452)) "Skyrim, for all its faults and issues, had so much to discover" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45875041)) - Runs on Mac, VR and with mods (4 comments): "walking around Fallout VR or Skyrim VR will give you a lot of cardio" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49706235)) "Skyrim runs well on my M2 mac mini through crossover and rosetta" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48146173)) "with voice recognition and QOL mods it's incredible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45905547)) - Still played years after release (2 comments): "something like Oblivion or Skyrim were a much better experience 5-10 years after release than initially" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48792023)) "new gamers still start playing fallout new Vegas or skyrim today despite them being old and janky" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47261432)) ## What people warn about - Repetitive, bland world design (3 comments): "But Skyrim ended up overdoing it, to the point where it's in every tomb" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48501868)) "they made the world even more bland and generic northern fantasy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48814549)) "they overdid that and should probably have made more variations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48502526)) - Bugs, crashes and jank (4 comments): "honorable mention, for all its jank, Skyrim" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48015450)) "Skyrim would outright break." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48015699)) "Skyrim on day one came out with a game breaking bug in the main quest, and it crashed a lot too." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45877273)) - Re-releases and mod-breaking updates (4 comments): "Each time Bethesda announces an update to Skyrim or Fallout 4, I cringe, because what the updates do above all else is break the existing mods." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45846143)) "Look at how many times since 2011 Bethesda has put some "new" version of Skyrim up for sale." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45849461)) "Bethesda reselling Skyrim in different coats for 15 years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49805201)) - Thin content and weak systems (2 comments): "Most of the systems do not work as intended, the amount of content is very low compared to previous entries." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45848868)) "Skyrim lacks in each aspect, especially compared to previous Elder Scrolls games." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45850760)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Cyberpunk 2077](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cyberpunk-2077.md): 76 recommend - [Morrowind](https://hackerapproved.com/p/morrowind.md): 26 recommend - [Fallout: New Vegas](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fallout-new-vegas.md): 15 recommend - [The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion](https://hackerapproved.com/p/elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion.md): 11 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Skyrim", https://hackerapproved.com/p/skyrim/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).