# Xs of Y

14 Hacker News commenters recommended Xs of Y and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A fun retro roguelike with a nice interface that people keep returning to. Critics report instant deaths, gear that must be equipped by hand, and possible bugs.

## Why people recommend it

- Fun, keeps players coming back (3 comments): "Pretty fun! I keep getting instantly killed by things though and I'm not sure why, possibly a bug." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48124321)) "Been having fun today trying to work this game out." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48131231)) "love the game! I keep coming back to it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48141267))
- Old-school roguelike feel (2 comments): "Quality retro fun with a really nice interface." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48128270)) "an actual roguelike (as in, like Rogue)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48133371))

## What people warn about

- Instant deaths, possibly a bug (3 comments): "Pretty fun! I keep getting instantly killed by things though and I'm not sure why, possibly a bug." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48124321)) "something is wrong. You don't even get to fight back." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48125516)) "I got killed by a fire imp and crashed the same way." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48128871))
- Must press i to equip gear (2 comments): "Found it a bit annoying having to press 'i' at the start in order to equip the dagger and armor that were on my backpack, but well done." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48124495)) "should be equipped from the start" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48125493))
- Redirect loop bug in browsers (2 comments): "Gets stuck in a redirect loop with the message" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48125033)) "Same in Firefox for Android 151.0b4" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48134201))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [NetHack](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nethack.md): 60 recommend
- [Chess-Inspired Roguelike](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chess-inspired-roguelike.md): 33 recommend
- [Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dungeon-crawl-stone-soup.md): 16 recommend
- [Noita](https://hackerapproved.com/p/noita.md): 13 recommend
- [Caves of Qud](https://hackerapproved.com/p/caves-of-qud.md): 10 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Xs of Y", https://hackerapproved.com/p/xs-of-y/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).