GuidesChecked
Home / Guides / How games are checked
How these browser games are checked
A list of games is only as good as the last time somebody opened them. This page explains what a checked entry means here, and just as important, what it does not mean.
What a check involves
Each game’s own page is opened in a current desktop browser and read. The aim is to answer a few plain questions. Does the page load? Does the game start in the tab, or only offer an installer? Is there a sign-up, a consent dialog or an age confirmation before the first screen? Does the page show a version, a news date, a player count or a shop?
The answers go into the short list under each entry. Nothing there is a score. If the page said it, the entry says it; if the page was silent, the entry is silent too.
What the lists do not claim
The games are not played to the end. Shops are not examined, so a free game may still charge for things the check never saw. Phones are not tested, accounts are not created, and chat is not read. Where a page says something about those, the entry repeats it and nothing more.
Where candidates come from
Names come from published round-ups, forums and the games’ own sibling links. They are used for names only. A claim in a round-up that the game’s own page does not repeat does not make it into an entry.
What gets a game removed
A page that no longer loads, a game that needs an installer to continue, or a site that stops updating for long enough to look abandoned. Games whose pages could not be read properly are held back, not guessed about: they are added once a re-check can describe them.
How to read an entry
Take an entry such as Kittens Game. The line under its name says what kind of game it is. The sentence below that describes it in plain words. The short list underneath records what was on the page: a version number, save buttons, the first message. Each line is a thing that was visible, which is why entries for pages with little on them are short.
Where a number appears, it is a snapshot of the afternoon the page was read. A player count of 9,048 means that many were listed at that moment, not that the game always has them.
How long a check takes
A single entry usually takes a few minutes: load the page, wait for the first screen, scroll once, note what is there. A full round across every list takes longer, because each game is opened again rather than copied from the last round. If a page looks different from the previous round, the entry is rewritten from what is on screen now.
Games are opened one at a time, in a fresh browser window with no saved logins, so what appears is what a first-time visitor would see. That is also why entries mention consent dialogs and sign-up forms so often: they are the first thing a new visitor meets.
Corrections
A game that has changed since the last round, or an entry that reads wrongly against the game's own page, gets fixed at the next check, and the date under the list moves with it. Anything that cannot be confirmed from a game's own page is left out rather than softened.
The date under each list
It changes only after a new round of checks, never as decoration.
Every entry last checked
For the lists themselves, start at the guides. A short rule of thumb for reading any entry: the more lines it has under its description, the more its page said; a short entry means a short page, not a worse game.
Frequently asked questions about the checks
Are the games played to the end?
No. A check opens the game’s own page in a current desktop browser and reads what is there. Entries describe that first screen and nothing deeper.
Can a game pay to be listed?
No entry on these pages is paid for, and none links through a tracking address. Each entry links straight to the game’s own page.
Does the date on a list mean the games are still online today?
It means they were online and readable on that date. A game can change after a check, which is why the date sits under every list and moves only after a new round.
What happens when an entry turns out to be wrong?
It is corrected at the next round of checks, and anything that cannot be confirmed from the game’s own page is removed rather than softened.
Why are phones not tested?
The checks use a desktop browser. Where a game’s page says something about phones, the entry repeats it; otherwise it says nothing, and the safe move is to open the game on your own phone first.