# Sopwith

18 Hacker News commenters recommended Sopwith and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Fondly remembered early DOS dogfight game, praised for simple fuel and bomb strategy and smooth flight controls; critics find it very hard and speed-sensitive.

## Why people recommend it

- Fond childhood memories of playing (5 comments): "I also remember really enjoying Sopwith 2, which added cows, among other things." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47643489)) "We were always begging the daycare to let us play this. Very solid." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47642211)) "I've spent endless hours playing Sopwith! What a legend!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47643429))
- Satisfying flight controls and physics (2 comments): "Loved the basic physics of things like flying inverted or flying down low" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47642682)) "Such a great control scheme!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47645625))
- Strategic fuel and bomb play (2 comments): "I've enjoyed the strategic aspect of fuel and bomb management and while the ai is simple, it provided a challenge." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47642858)) "I got very good at dropping the bomb while upside down and then flipping and getting outta there." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47644217))

## What people warn about

- Hard, speed-sensitive gameplay (2 comments): "the game was really hard, because it was built for a 4MHz clock. Good times." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47642576)) "It was very difficult. Maybe because the game was speed sensitive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47642557))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Fly By retro biplane game](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fly.md): 22 recommend
- [Pac-Man](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pac-man.md): 9 recommend
- [Atari Tempest arcade game](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tempest.md): 8 recommend
- [Pac-Man, but You're the Ghost](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pac-man-but-you-re-the-ghost.md): 5 recommend
- [Beakdown](https://hackerapproved.com/p/beakdown.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

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