Games & Game Development: what Hacker News watches
8 topics, 342 videos. Pick a topic for a focused list, or scan the 100 best-scored across the whole area below.
- grapefrukt talk recommended in 12 different months by 12 HN users, 2013–2025The go-to recommendation on game feel and polish, cited by HN as one of the best talks for anyone making interactive things feel good.
- Dutch Game Garden talk recommended in 11 different months by 10 HN users, 2014–2025A perennial recommendation for anyone learning game feel and juice, praised for showing concrete steps that turn a bland prototype into a satisfying game.
- DevGAMM talk recommended in 12 different months by 14 HN users, 2020–2025It is the standard link in HN threads about software decay, lost knowledge and fragile technological civilization.
- HN keeps recommending it as an inspirational, funny talk on running a long-lived indie studio and what Steam provides for its 30% cut.
- It is the go-to talk for anyone building falling-sand or pixel-physics simulations, and several commenters say they modeled their own engines on it.
- Frequently recommended whenever Diablo or its origins come up, for its candid account of the human side of game development.
- CreativeMornings HQ talk recommended in 7 different months by 7 HN users, 2013–2020HN cites it repeatedly in debates about in-app purchases and monetization corrupting games.
- HN commenters cite it as the definitive critique of Fortnite's monetization and of manipulative free-to-play design.
- rubbermuck talk recommended in 6 different months by 6 HN users, 2011–2017Recommended as a thoughtful critique of addictive game design and the designer's role in building ethical games.
- HN raves about it as one of the best conference talks, showing a master's creative process and sound design.
- HN recommends it as a great account of how Civilization was made and as a source on perceived fairness in game design.
- HN commenters use it as a short, accessible primer on social credit and surveillance-driven gamification, linking it in many privacy and China threads.
- HN recommends it as a transparent MMO postmortem and as the source of the story that the term 'shard' originated with Ultima Online.
- Game Maker's Toolkit explainer recommended in 4 different months by 3 HN users, 2017–2025HN recommends it as a concise video essay on why Nintendo games feel good and how the company iterates.
- HN points to it whenever Dwarf Fortress comes up, mainly for the alcohol-poisoned cats bug story and a developer's view of the game's depth.
- HN recommends it as a deeper look at Deus Ex's themes, and as the best essay on its politics and economics.
- HN cites it for the story of how Pitfall's levels are generated procedurally from a seeded counter, within 4K of ROM.
- HN people cite it when discussing perceived randomness, luck and player experience in games, and say more designers should heed it.
- Recommended even to people outside game development as a useful, practical perspective on how creativity works.
- HN uses it as a canonical anecdote that designers badly predicted player behavior, and in threads about UO and sharding.
- SsethTzeentach commentary recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2021–2023HN considers it the go-to link for conveying the chaos of Space Station 13 in any related discussion.
- Razbuten commentary recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2019–2023HN uses it to illustrate learned literacy in game and software UX, and how unfamiliar conventions confuse newcomers.
- MrBtongue commentary recommended in 3 different months by 2 HN users, 2016–2022Commenters call it one of the best, most insightful explanations of sandbox versus theme-park MMO design.
- Recommended as a prime example of large-scale procedural generation used in a shipped AAA game.
- NYU Game Center talk recommended in 3 different months by 2 HN users, 2018–2022HN points to it for the design philosophy behind PICO-8's constraints.
- HN commenters recommend it as a hilarious account of mass-produced app store shovelware and cite it in threads on spam and low-quality content.
- HN commenters recommend it as the key talk on why game AI is built to be fun rather than to win.
- Held up as an exemplary GDC postmortem and a first-hand account for fans of the original Fallout.
- HN points to it as the best talk on how people misunderstand probabilities and how designers handle that.
- Jimmy McGee commentary recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2022–2024Recommended as an engaging, well-researched look at the history of gambling machines and how games borrow their psychology.
- Double Fine demo recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2019–2022Recommended as an entertaining, hilarious view of developers watching a speedrunner break their game.
- HN commenters recommend it as a witty critique of the game, and cite it in discussions of the yellow filter in games.
- PocketGamerbiz talk recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2019–2026HN mostly cites it critically, as an insider's blunt playbook for psychologically exploiting players in F2P and loot box games.
- HN commenters recommend it as a thoughtful take on doing gamification and game design well.
- Egoraptor commentary recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2012–2020HN commenters use it as the standard example of invisible onboarding and good game design, praising it as funny and insightful.
- HN points to it whenever Another World comes up, as one of the better GDC talks by the game's creator.
- Recommended in indie and solo game development threads as a grounded account of making a living in games.
- jon d talk recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2021–2023HN considers it one of the best GDC post-mortems, with funny anecdotes (such as turning down Hotmail equity) and multiplayer insights.
- HN recommends it when people ask why games aren't marketed by creator like films, and for the value of attaching your name to your work.
- HN commenters recommend it as a firsthand account from the creator, including the old tooling.
- Stephanie Sterling commentary recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2020–2022Pointed to in threads on loot boxes, gacha games and exploitative monetization as a damning overview.
- Recommended as an accessible talk on emergent narrative and on how RimWorld was designed, and cited in threads on simulation games.
- Recommended as an entertaining, technical look at squeezing a game into a tiny Atari 2600, told by the original developer.
- HN commenters cite it as the reference for how a rewind system works and as a point of comparison for undo and serialization approaches.
- Day9TV commentary recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2017–2019HN uses it to argue that mechanical difficulty and limited attention are integral to RTS strategy, especially in StarCraft AI threads.
- Recommended for its insight into game design and cited as a vivid example of how tricky localization can be.
- HN uses it as a short explanation of AAA pricing economics in discussions of microtransactions and game pricing.
- GiantGrantGames commentary recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2023–2024HN recommends it for its argument that single-player campaigns and modding are overlooked in RTS design.
- HN commenters point to it as a fantastic developer commentary on how Doom's first episode was made.
- HN commenters find his insights good, especially the idea that games work for learning by doing and for teaching problem-solving, in contrast to gamification.
- HN points to it as a short source on operant conditioning in games, loot boxes and engagement loops, with design alternatives.
- HN recommends it as a detailed RCT documentary in threads on the game's optimization and design legacy.
- HN commenters recommend it as an honest account of the emotional toll and persistence of long indie game development.
- Chris Crawford talk recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2021–2025HN people mention it as a notable historical talk from the early game industry, though some see it as showing his eccentricity.
- Joseph Anderson commentary recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2021–2025HN uses it mainly as a critical review of the game, saying it captures a lack of respect for the player, though one commenter suggests watching it after finishing.
- HN mentions it for the game design history it contains and as part of a list of good gaming history channels.
- HN cites it as the standard walkthrough of Mario's implicit teaching and as an example of hiding the tutorial inside the problem.
- HN people cite it for solo-dev inspiration and for the rendering technique behind the game's look.
- Josh Strife Hayes commentary recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2022–2023Pointed to as a breakdown of predatory monetization design in games.
- Zeusmonomon talk recommended in 1 different month by 1 HN user, 2023–2026HN points to it for Wright's ideas on procedural design and as the source of the huge expectations around Spore.
- Cited in game-economy threads as a clear explanation of why vendor-sellable loot causes hyperinflation and how designers counter it.
- [mtbdesignworks {Miegakure, 4D Toys}] demo cited on HN 4 times, 2014–2017HN links it in discussions of 4D visualization and Miegakure as an intuitive demonstration of the fourth dimension.
- HN commenters link it as the primary source for the 'multiplicative gameplay' idea and the chemistry engine behind BotW.
- Bloc demo cited on HN 3 times, 2023–2025Pointed to as an early example of LLM-powered NPC dialog in games.
- The Video Game History Foundation interview cited on HN 3 times, 2020–2023Pointed to as a rare look at the real SCUMM code of a classic adventure game.
- HN treats it as the best real-world AAA example of ECS and game netcode, and cites it constantly in discussions of data-oriented design.
- HN treats it as the go-to explanation of ECS, valuable even for people who don't use Rust.
- SIGGRAPH Advances in Real-Time Rendering talk recommended in 9 different months by 7 HN users, 2021–2026HN treats it as the definitive deep dive on Nanite, admired for the engineering ambition behind pixel-sized triangles and compute-driven rendering.
- It is one of the most frequently recommended videos on HN for old-school game development hacks under tight hardware constraints.
- Alexandre Franco talk recommended in 9 different months by 9 HN users, 2015–2026HN recommends it as a talk whose advice on simplicity and avoiding unnecessary work applies well beyond games.
- HN programmers recommend it, and the Jai series that followed, for the game-industry view on replacing C++ and for watching a language being invented.
- Better Software Conference talk recommended in 8 different months by 11 HN users, 2025–2026HN commenters recommend it for its source-based history of OOP, though some dispute its account of Alan Kay.
- Godot Engine talk recommended in 7 different months by 6 HN users, 2023–2026Frequently recommended for an experienced game-engine builder's view on why GC pauses are inevitable and why Swift's approach is appealing.
- QuakeCon Official talk recommended in 7 different months by 6 HN users, 2012–2018HN rates his QuakeCon keynotes among the best technical talks, and cites this one for the VR segment and for his views on Linux gaming.
- A favorite on Ask HN lists of programming YouTube channels, praised for mind-blowing systems and graphics programming and a watchable coding style.
- Bruce Hauman demo recommended in 6 different months by 6 HN users, 2015–2020It is the canonical demo HN people cite for live interactive development and hot reloading, as proof the workflow is real and not smoke and mirrors.
- HN treats it as the best entry point to geometric algebra and an intuitive route to understanding quaternions.
- The go-to link in any anti-cheat thread for a concrete, well-delivered account of machine-learning cheat detection in production.
- Media Molecule talk recommended in 6 different months by 7 HN users, 2017–2026HN calls it an inspirational must-see on SDF rendering and a favorite tech talk for graphics programmers.
- HN cites it as the example of a better alternative to whiteboard and fizzbuzz-style interviews.
- BUas Games talk recommended in 5 different months by 4 HN users, 2020–2024The go-to talk whenever Wave Function Collapse, Townscaper or tile-based procedural generation comes up.
- retrogameinternals demo recommended in 4 different months by 5 HN users, 2023–2026Held up in debugger and tooling threads as an amazing ideal of a tight feedback loop and what debugging could be.
- HN considers it one of the best game networking talks, with insights that carry over to distributed systems generally.
- Kostiantyn Kostin talk recommended in 5 different months by 5 HN users, 2013–2025Cited again and again as Carmack's key public statement on functional programming and purity in game development, plus his remarks on garbage collection.
- HN treats it as the definitive practical talk on rollback networking in a shipped AAA fighting game.
- Casey Muratori lecture recommended in 5 different months by 5 HN users, 2017–2024Seen as the origin of the IMGUI idea that inspired Dear ImGui, recommended to anyone curious about immediate-mode UI design.
- PlayStation talk recommended in 4 different months by 6 HN users, 2020–2023HN treats it as required viewing for understanding the PS5's SSD and architecture beyond raw specs.
- Daniel Hands demo recommended in 4 different months by 3 HN users, 2013–2026HN points to it as the standard example of procedural content generation and extreme size optimization in games.
- HN commenters point to it as the first-person story of how Myst grew out of HyperCard and fit on CD-ROM, especially in threads about HyperCard and retro game constraints.
- HN recommends it as an approachable way into C and low-level programming that gets to something visible quickly.
- max4warn talk recommended in 4 different months by 5 HN users, 2018–2026HN points to it as the definitive example of server-side, behavioral, non-invasive anti-cheat using machine learning, often as a counterpoint to kernel-level anti-cheat.
- AngeTheGreat demo recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2023–2025HN points to it as a standout example of physics-based sound synthesis and engine simulation.
- Roguelike Celebration talk recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2021–2022HN recommends it as a fun, informative survey of easy-to-implement dungeon generation methods from the author of the Rust roguelike tutorial.
- runevision explainer recommended in 4 different months by 3 HN users, 2025–2026HN recommends it as the original explainer for a clever dithering technique and the go-to video in dithering threads.
- UncommentatedPannen explainer recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2017–2018Praised as an engrossing, in-depth look at SM64 mechanics that is surprisingly compelling to watch.
- HN recommends it as an excellent inside look at Valve's history, its technology and the games industry of the time.
- sentdex demo recommended in 4 different months by 3 HN users, 2021–2025Cited as an early, striking demo of neural networks acting as game engines and world models.
- Martin Donald explainer recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2021–2022Commenters recommend it as the clearest way to understand WFC, especially in threads about Townscaper and tiled content generation.
- QuakeCon Official talk recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2011–2018Cited as a source for Carmack's views on static analysis, open source and languages, and praised as a captivating, conversational speaker.
- HN recommends the series as a thorough look at low-level game programming by someone with deep knowledge, offered free.
Showing the 100 best-scored of 342. Use search to find the rest.