# TrenchBroom

10 Hacker News commenters recommended TrenchBroom and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free, easy-to-learn map editor for Quake-engine games, praised for being pleasant to work with and handling most level work. Critics say its brush-based approach suits closed spaces poorly.

## Why people recommend it

- Pleasant, high-quality software to use (2 comments): "Trenchbroom is legitimately among the best software I have ever used." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50218559)) "Trenchbroom is just so much more pleasant to work with" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50219022))
- Widely used by game developers (2 comments): "Many game devs use it to block out levels or make entire games." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50218386)) "Have been using it very casually over the last decade or so." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50218787))

## What people warn about

- Brush-based approach unsuited to closed spaces (1 comments): "it uses brush-based approach, which isn't the right way of designing maps for games in closed spaces" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50219362))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Hammer level editor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hammer.md): 8 recommend

## Cite as

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