# Undertale

16 Hacker News commenters recommended Undertale and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Praised for flipping RPG conventions, its moral take on killing monsters, and its music; critics note messy code and low difficulty.

## Why people recommend it

- Flips RPG conventions (2 comments): "There are more experimental games, sometimes in established genres, like Inscription, Undertale, or Baba Is You." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46819048)) "really good indie rpg that flips rpgs on their head. Also has really good music" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47947931))
- Moral choices about killing monsters (2 comments): "Toby Fox basically wrote the book on the moral quandries of killing monsters in video games" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48295865)) "the designer didn't make being peaceful in the game lame" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47778426))
- Acclaimed as a historic success (2 comments): "Undertale's code is full of if statements and an enormous number of branches—honestly, it seemed like the developer didn't even know the basics of coding. Yet that game became a historic success." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48460854)) "it's a masterpiece often cited as one of the best games" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48508438))

## What people warn about

- Messy, poor code quality (2 comments): "Undertale's code is full of if statements and an enormous number of branches—honestly, it seemed like the developer didn't even know the basics of coding. Yet that game became a historic success." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48460854)) "Undertail is also famous for its poor code quality." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46861815))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Baldur's Gate 3](https://hackerapproved.com/p/baldur-s-gate-3.md): 71 recommend
- [Clair Obscur: Expedition 33](https://hackerapproved.com/p/clair-obscur-expedition-33.md): 58 recommend
- [Ultima VII Revisited](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ultima-vii.md): 24 recommend
- [Disco Elysium](https://hackerapproved.com/p/disco-elysium.md): 23 recommend
- [Chrono Trigger](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chrono-trigger.md): 23 recommend

## Cite as

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