Zero-K
Ranked 17 of 24 real-time strategy games by recommenders
Free open-source RTS on the Spring engine, praised as a polished StarCraft and Supreme Commander blend; critics say cheaters and racists hurt its community.
Free open-source RTS on the Spring engine, praised as a polished StarCraft and Supreme Commander blend; critics say cheaters and racists hurt its community.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 90%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not 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
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 9 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 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
Polished, strong Spring-engine RTS
“Zero-K is worth checking out, its excellent. The best spring derivative imho”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “RTS for Agents” “Zero-K is another great RTS based on this engine”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “0 A.D. Release 28: Boiorix” “it's the most polished game of its kind imo”
Comment from 21 Jun 2026 in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)” Preferred over Beyond All Reason
“I do prefer Zero-K over Beyond All Reason”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” “The non slop version would be Zero-K”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” Open source game from Spring engine
“Personally I preferred the foss games spawned out of the spring engine”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers” “I play Zero-K (a related open source game) a few times a month”
Comment from 21 Jun 2026 in “Beyond All Reason (Free Total Annihilation Inspired RTS)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Community hurt by cheaters and racists
“awful players (racists, cheaters, tactical pausers) really ruined the community”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Total Annihilation, rebuilt for modern computers”
Other real-time strategy games people recommend
The four most recommended other real-time strategy 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond All Reason | 76 | 17 | 82% | 10 | 1 yr6 owners | Approved |
| Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness | 51 | 2 | 96% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Total Annihilation | 48 | 7 | 87% | 7 | — | Approved |
| StarCraft | 36 | 22 | 62% | 10 | — | — |
| Zero-KThis page | 9 | 1 | 90% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
All 11 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Maybe it's better these days.”
“awful players (racists, cheaters, tactical pausers) really ruined the community”
“Zero K is deceptively amazing, like StarCraft mixed with supreme commander.”
“I do prefer Zero-K over Beyond All Reason”
“The non slop version would be Zero-K”
“Personally I preferred the foss games spawned out of the spring engine”
“it's the most polished game of its kind imo”
“I play Zero-K (a related open source game) a few times a month”
“it has an actual campaign”
“Zero-K is another great RTS based on this engine”
“Zero-K is worth checking out, its excellent. The best spring derivative imho”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.