How we choose, test and source games
This page sets out how a game gets onto HahaGames, what we check before it goes live, where it comes from and how it comes down again.
How we choose games
We decide what to add mainly from three things:
- Search demand: how many people look for a game each month, from Google Keyword Planner.
- Distributor charts: the games distributors list as top performing, trending or recommended.
- Gaps: popular games that other browser game sites carry and we do not.
Players can also ask for a game with the Request a game link at the bottom of every page, and developers can send us their own.
We pass on a game when the build is a clone of a better-known title, or when we already carry the same game.
What we check before a game goes live
A new game starts as a draft, which visitors cannot open. Before we publish it:
- We open the build in the site's game frame and play it, to confirm that it runs and that it is the game its title says.
- We check how it behaves on a phone, and set whether it runs in landscape, in portrait or both.
- Its page gets a description, how to play, the controls and the features. Controls come from the game's own help screen, from its developer or from playing it, not from what is usual for the genre.
- A game that needs a keyboard or mouse is marked as made for computers, and phones see that on its page.
Much of the older catalogue came in bulk from distributor feeds, before these checks. Those games are covered by the checks below.
After a game is live
- We sweep the whole catalogue for games that no longer load or that now show a different game, and take down the ones that are broken.
- We also retire distributor games that almost nobody searches for or plays.
- Each game has like and dislike buttons. A dislike can say that the game has bugs or did not work, and we use those reports to find broken games.
- A game's rating comes from those likes and dislikes. The Trending and Popular lists rank games by likes, dislikes and how much a game has been played lately.
- A game we take down answers as gone and offers similar games, so search engines drop its address.
Where the games come from
Every game reaches us in one of three ways:
- Distributors. Most games come from HTML5 distributors: GameDistribution, GameMonetize, GamePix, Playgama and PlayHop. The game runs from the distributor's servers, inside our page.
- Developers' own sites. Some games, mostly .io multiplayer titles, run from the site of the people who make them.
- Our own hosting. The rest are browser builds we host ourselves. That includes older Flash games, which run in the Ruffle emulator, so they still work without Flash.
Where we know who made a game, its page names them as the developer. If a credit is wrong or missing, tell us and we will fix it.
Developers and rights holders
If you made a game and want it on the site, the developer page says what to send. Submit a game
If you hold rights to something here and want it removed, our DMCA page sets out what to send. We aim to process requests within seven business days. DMCA requests
Corrections
For a correction or a question about this page, write to support@hahagames.com.