# StarCraft

36 Hacker News commenters recommended StarCraft and 22 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Sci-fi real-time strategy game praised for its balance, deep competitive play, voice acting, and a long-lived multiplayer community; critics cite clunky controls and heavy micro demands.

## Why people recommend it

- Long-lived, widely played multiplayer community (4 comments): "Hell that LAN environment WAS the reason StarCraft got so hugely popular in the first place, before Blizzard got jealous" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47109437)) "loved it, bought it, and then played many hundreds of hours on it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49700809)) "starcraft had very lasting user base long after their release" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820457))
- LAN play with friends (3 comments): "Hell that LAN environment WAS the reason StarCraft got so hugely popular in the first place, before Blizzard got jealous" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47109437)) "let you take your computer to anywhere and connect on the LAN with anyone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47108438)) "who I played Starcraft with over modem" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46208719))
- Well-balanced, finely tuned gameplay (3 comments): "The controls are a finely tuned machine in starcraft, as evidenced by the competitive scene with crazy apm." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50049519)) "because they got the balance just right, and all the dirty little details of that universe" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50228467)) "one of the best playing games of all time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50048510))
- Strong voice acting and cinematics (2 comments): "The cinematics were the best part of Starcraft!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46208425)) "All the Starcraft voice acting is amazing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46988173))

## What people warn about

- Clunky controls and interface (3 comments): "the controls were hella clunky and fiddly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50049040)) "I felt SC to be a huge downgrade in terms of controls, and dropped it almost immediately." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50056796)) "I could go on for HOURS about why I LOATHE the Starcraft interface" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50049613))
- Heavy micro and APM demands (3 comments): "I'm not a fan of starcraft because I don't enjoy how important micro is to it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48624484)) "Other games like StarCraft are too complex for me to fully engage with." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46215511)) "the clicks per minute juggling competition that was starcraft" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49850035))
- Grindy, repetitive build order play (2 comments): "Starcraft can be just grind grind grind all of your openers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46228389)) "After a certain point, it almost becomes a rhythm game." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50051322))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Beyond All Reason](https://hackerapproved.com/p/beyond-all-reason.md): 76 recommend
- [Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness](https://hackerapproved.com/p/warcraft-ii-tides-of-darkness.md): 51 recommend
- [Total Annihilation](https://hackerapproved.com/p/total-annihilation.md): 48 recommend
- [StarCraft II](https://hackerapproved.com/p/starcraft-ii.md): 32 recommend
- [0 A.D.](https://hackerapproved.com/p/0-a-d.md): 30 recommend

## Cite as

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