StarCraft: Brood War
Hacker ApprovedRanked 10 of 24 real-time strategy games by recommenders
Praised for balanced races, deep tactics and a long-running map scene, with critics noting clunky controls and weak play against humans.
Praised for balanced races, deep tactics and a long-running map scene, with critics noting clunky controls and weak play against humans.
27 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 25
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 93%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 25 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 13 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Huge cultural and esports impact
“Brood War was like a national pastime in Korea for many many years”
Comment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Valve is about to win the console generation” “Brood War hit in Korea like nothing before or after it.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” “the game that made it popular across the world”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” - Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness”
Balanced races with no big advantage
“I think Brood War is the true apex - more than two races with significant differences and aggressive balancing.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” “Brood War's longevity is thanks to the map maker, which has allowed the game to be balanced around maps.”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” “Every detail is carefully considered so that none of the races can get away with a crazy advantage.”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” Unpredictable tactics and builds
“While broodwars was arguably even more neurotic it oddly seemed to have more surprising builds”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” “Strong and unpredictable early game, solid middle game, strongest late game.”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “Brood War Bench” “made it easier for long time fans to appreciate tactics”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” Still great decades after release
“a game that is still going stronger than ever despite closing in on its 3rd decade since release”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” “still one of the greatest competitive games ever made”
Comment from 19 Sep 2026 in “Brood War Bench”
Other real-time strategy games people recommend
The four most recommended other real-time strategy games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond All Reason | 76 | 17 | 82% | 10 | 1 yr6 owners | Approved |
| Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness | 51 | 2 | 96% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Total Annihilation | 48 | 7 | 87% | 7 | — | Approved |
| StarCraft | 36 | 22 | 62% | 10 | — | — |
| StarCraft: Brood WarThis page | 25 | 2 | 93% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
32 of the 33 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“aren't very fun for humans to play against”
“I still play Dune 2, warcraft II, sc:broodwars and C&C, in addition to Starcraft II.”
“I played Brood War every free second I had in my younger days.”
“every season bw had at least one "wacky" map pros were expected to play on”
“That game is notoriously clunky in how it handles user input, both in terms of selection limitations, unit path finding, etc.”
“While broodwars was arguably even more neurotic it oddly seemed to have more surprising builds”
“in brood war you get info when units are made and sounds wben they die”
“Strong and unpredictable early game, solid middle game, strongest late game.”
“This thing kept me sane through university.”
“I did buy it, all three, loved it.”
“still one of the greatest competitive games ever made”
“Playable Agent driven Starcraft”
“I have more nostalgia for SC:BW but only played online thanks to SC2 matchmaking”
“For all of their faults, SC:BW and AoE2 are anti-deathball.”
“Starcraft 2 + expansions is a very poor game compared to brood war”
“Complex visionary collaborative projects resulting in absolute perfection.”
“the game is just more fun to play and to watch”
“But there definitely was a sync bug.”
“i did play some brood war after i played tft with some of my tft clan mates and i didn't really like it”
“Every detail is carefully considered so that none of the races can get away with a crazy advantage.”
“Brood War's longevity is thanks to the map maker, which has allowed the game to be balanced around maps.”
“Brood War brought professionalism to esport.”
“a game that is still going stronger than ever despite closing in on its 3rd decade since release”
“BW really is lightning in a bottle.”
“made it easier for long time fans to appreciate tactics”
“Starcraft 2 isn't even better than Starcraft 1, especially when you add in Brood War”
“Brood War hit in Korea like nothing before or after it.”
“the game that made it popular across the world”
“It is what defined the modern RTS games.”
“I think Brood War is the true apex - more than two races with significant differences and aggressive balancing.”
“Brood War was like a national pastime in Korea for many many years”
“It's best when a game offers both, e.g. Brood War.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.