Undertale
Hacker ApprovedRanked 6 of 33 role-playing games by recommenders
Praised for flipping RPG conventions, its moral take on killing monsters, and its music; critics note messy code and low difficulty.
Praised for flipping RPG conventions, its moral take on killing monsters, and its music; critics note messy code and low difficulty.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 94%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 16 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 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
Flips RPG conventions
“There are more experimental games, sometimes in established genres, like Inscription, Undertale, or Baba Is You.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “PlayStation 2 Recompilation Project Is Absolutely Incredible” “really good indie rpg that flips rpgs on their head. Also has really good music”
Comment from 29 Apr 2026 in “When the Internet Was a Place” Moral choices about killing monsters
“Toby Fox basically wrote the book on the moral quandries of killing monsters in video games”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “The Melancholy of Slaying Monsters” “the designer didn't make being peaceful in the game lame”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “'Seeking connection': video game where players stopped shooting, started talking” Acclaimed as a historic success
“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.”
Comment from 9 Jun 2026 in “Cleaning up after AI rockstar developers” “it's a masterpiece often cited as one of the best games”
Comment from 12 Jun 2026 in “I Am Not a Reverse Centaur”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Messy, poor code quality
“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.”
Comment from 9 Jun 2026 in “Cleaning up after AI rockstar developers” “Undertail is also famous for its poor code quality.”
Comment from 2 Feb 2026 in “They lied to you. Building software is hard”
Other role-playing games people recommend
The four most recommended other role-playing 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baldur's Gate 3 | 71 | 11 | 87% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | 58 | 10 | 85% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Ultima VII Revisited | 24 | 7 | 77% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Disco Elysium | 23 | 1 | 96% | 8 | — | Approved |
| UndertaleThis page | 16 | 1 | 94% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
15 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“those are stellar experience”
“they were actually good games”
“it's a masterpiece often cited as one of the best games”
“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.”
“Personally I ended up not liking it in the end, but it's a begrudging dislike”
“it's surprisingly deeper than it seems”
“there's a few good ones like Undertale”
“I didn't find it all that challenging at all.”
“Toby Fox basically wrote the book on the moral quandries of killing monsters in video games”
“albeit in less elegant ways, owing to their expanded scope”
“really good indie rpg that flips rpgs on their head. Also has really good music”
“the designer didn't make being peaceful in the game lame”
“Undertale, which had a huge female following (and sales to match)”
“Undertail is also famous for its poor code quality.”
“There are more experimental games, sometimes in established genres, like Inscription, Undertale, or Baba Is You.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.