# Xonotic

11 Hacker News commenters recommended Xonotic 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:** Free open-source arena shooter in the style of Quake III and Unreal Tournament, played with friends. Caveat: a bit rough around the edges, and it doesn't work well for some.

## Why people recommend it

- Fun to play with friends (2 comments): "i love luanti, xonotic, openarena, veloren, etc, and play them frequently with some friends" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46803288)) "i've got loads of hours in games like veloren, luanti, xonotic, pokeMMO, and osu!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46803348))
- Old-school Quake-style feel (2 comments): "a fast open-source arena FPS, think Quake III / Unreal Tournament" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48428134)) "Xonotic has that old school feeling." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49206179))

## What people warn about

- Rough around the edges (1 comments): "it's a bit rough around the edges in parts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46149927))
- Doesn't work well for some (1 comments): "Doesn't work very well for me, but it's something." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48436590))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Arc Raiders](https://hackerapproved.com/p/arc-raiders.md): 52 recommend
- [Fortnite](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fortnite.md): 33 recommend
- [Counter-Strike](https://hackerapproved.com/p/counter-strike.md): 30 recommend
- [Counter-Strike 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/counter-strike-2.md): 27 recommend
- [Overwatch 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/overwatch.md): 22 recommend

## Cite as

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