TrenchBroom
Level editor in Developer tools
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.
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.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not 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
Pleasant, high-quality software to use
“Trenchbroom is legitimately among the best software I have ever used.”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “The Quake Fan who built the map editor everybody uses” “Trenchbroom is just so much more pleasant to work with”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “The Quake Fan who built the map editor everybody uses” Widely used by game developers
“Many game devs use it to block out levels or make entire games.”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “The Quake Fan who built the map editor everybody uses” “Have been using it very casually over the last decade or so.”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “The Quake Fan who built the map editor everybody uses”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Brush-based approach unsuited to closed spaces
“it uses brush-based approach, which isn't the right way of designing maps for games in closed spaces”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “The Quake Fan who built the map editor everybody uses”
What people recommend instead
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TrenchBroomThis page | 10 | 2 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
| Hammer level editor | 8 | 1 | 89% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
9 of the 13 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it was such a breeze even as someone who had never done Quake / HL / Source mapping before”
“Neither of them were very usable for me”
“because Trenchbroom includes slop”
“it uses brush-based approach, which isn't the right way of designing maps for games in closed spaces”
“Trenchbroom is just so much more pleasant to work with”
“Have been using it very casually over the last decade or so.”
“you really can do 90% of your work in trenchbroom”
“Trenchbroom is legitimately among the best software I have ever used.”
“Many game devs use it to block out levels or make entire games.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.