Launch a Browser Game for Free: The Link Is the Whole Launch
Launch a browser game by treating the link as the entire launch: anyone who clicks it should be playing within seconds, with no download or sign-up. Host it on your own address, upload it to itch.io as a ZIP containing an index.html, and consider a game portal such as CrazyGames or Poki that shares advertising revenue. Test load time and mobile first, then share it where people play things, including Show HN.
The link is the whole launch
A game that needs a download asks for a commitment before it has earned one. A browser game asks for a click. That is its one big advantage over every other kind of product on this site, and it moves the work from persuading people to try it to not wasting the seconds after they do. There is no installer to be reviewed, no store to wait for and no page to be approved. You can launch the afternoon the game is playable.
The flip side is that nothing holds players in place. If the page takes eight seconds to show anything, they leave, and you never see it in a review. So the quality bar for a browser game launch is the first ten seconds, and everything below is arranged around them.
Where can a browser game be hosted and found?
| Home | What the source says | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Your own address | Nothing to read; you decide everything | Full control and a followed link, but nobody browses to you |
| itch.io HTML5 | Upload a ZIP with an index.html at its root, or a single HTML file; file names are case sensitive; any HTML, JavaScript and CSS project works | A page with a community around it, plus controls for how the game is embedded |
| CrazyGames developer portal | Describes publishing and monetising HTML5 and WebGL games from engines including Unity WebGL, Phaser, Construct, Cocos and Godot | A portal audience; read its technical and content requirements before you build |
| Poki for Developers | Poki’s site says its games are free to players and that it shares advertising revenue with developers | An ad-funded portal; the game must suit that model |
Our automated reading of the two portals reached only their public descriptions, not their submission rules, so we say nothing about how they select games, what their requirements are or what they pay. Read each developer page yourself. Start with the first two homes, since you control both, and approach a portal only when you have a game that holds attention for a full session.
Does it pass the ten-second test?
Open the game on a mid-range phone over a mobile connection, with the cache cleared, and count. If you cannot answer yes to each line below, fix that before you announce.
- Something appears within a couple of seconds, even if it is only a loading bar with the game’s title.
- The first input starts the game. No menu with six buttons before the first play.
- Sound waits for a tap. Browsers generally block audio before the visitor has interacted with the page, so a game that expects music at load will be silent or error.
- It fits the screen, held upright or on its side, and the controls work with a thumb.
- Progress survives a closed tab, if your game has any.
Players of browser games pick them up in short gaps, so a first session of two or three minutes with a clear end is a better design than a long tutorial. That also helps if you later approach a portal funded by ads, because a natural pause between rounds is where such a game can show one.
A two-week plan
- Days 1 to 3: get the ten-second test passing on three real devices. Cut the load size until it does.
- Days 4 to 5: upload to itch.io as an HTML5 game and to your own address. Write a short page text and capture a clip of one round.
- Days 6 to 8: send the link to ten people with the sentence “tell me where you stopped”. Watch what they do, if you can see their screens.
- Days 9 to 10: fix the top two stopping points. Add a share button that copies the link.
- Day 11: post it: a Show HN if it is playable without sign-up, a short clip wherever players of that genre gather, and the free board below.
- Days 12 to 14: answer comments, fix bugs the same day, and read your own numbers.
What should you measure?
Three numbers: how many visitors start a round, how many finish a first round, and how many come back on another day. The gap between the first two is a problem with the opening seconds, and the gap between the second and third is a problem with the game. If you use analytics, choose one that does not need a consent banner for your audience, and say what you collect.
Share links carry a source tag, so a spike can be traced to the post that caused it, as the UTM guide explains. Write down what you changed after each spike, since the next one will ask the same question.
Frequently asked questions
How do I upload a browser game to itch.io?
Create a new project on itch.io, choose HTML as the kind of project, and upload your game packaged as a ZIP file with an index.html at its root. The documentation notes that file names are case sensitive and that you can also upload a single HTML file. Test the page before you share it.
Do game portals pay browser game developers?
Poki’s site says its games are free to players and that it shares advertising revenue with the developers, and CrazyGames’ developer portal talks about monetising games. We could not read either one’s terms, so check the current revenue arrangements and requirements yourself before building around them.
What engines can export to the browser?
CrazyGames’ developer portal names Unity WebGL exports, Phaser, Construct, Cocos and Godot among the engines it supports, and itch.io’s guide says many modern engines can export HTML and JavaScript. Check the engine’s current web export notes, since size and audio behaviour vary.
Why is my browser game silent on load?
Browsers generally block audio until the visitor interacts with the page. Start sound after the first tap or key press, usually when the player begins the first round. Add a loading screen that asks for that input, and test on a phone as well as a desktop.
Written by Post your build ideas with AI assistance and edited for this site. Where a page names another product, the facts came from that product’s own pages on the date shown above; terms change, so check them before you rely on them. About the publisher.