Hacker News Reader

It's just a game to try and get a higher score. Like HN points, karma doesn't actually get you any special benefits.

Prettysure there is some functionality benefits tied to karma here on HN...

Beyond reaching the threshold to be able to downvote comments, there is no significant functionality that you unlock as your karma increases.

I believe certain site features are gated off to prevent manipulation such as up/downvoting until users reach X points