Why we built a browser-first gaming portal, how the games are made, and what to expect as it grows.
OnlinePlayZone started with a simple idea: playing a game should not require an app store, a download of hundreds of megabytes or a sign-up form. Every game on this site opens in your browser, on a phone, a tablet or a computer, and starts as soon as you tap it. Behind that simplicity there is a lot of careful work, and this page explains it.
The library currently holds 63 original games across 10 genres: arcade and action games for quick reflexes, puzzles such as Sudoku, Nonogram and Minesweeper, word games, strategy games such as Chess and Checkers, and board games that many families grew up with, including Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, Carrom and hand cricket. We also build games inspired by Indian festivals and school-yard traditions, such as Patang Pech, the kite-fight duel, and Hand Cricket.
The games are original implementations rather than embeds of other people's work. Where we recreate a classic format, we write the rules ourselves and give the game its own design, text and sound. Our quality page describes the standard each game has to meet before it is published.
Most game sites give you a thumbnail and a button. We think a game is more enjoyable when you understand it. Every game page has a written guide with the controls, the scoring and strategy tips, and the guides section goes deeper with long articles on the history of Snakes and Ladders, how kite fighting works, how to solve Sudoku, how to improve at chess and more. The genre pages help you find a game to suit your mood.
Three of the games, Sudoku, Nonogram and Word Daily, generate one new puzzle per calendar day, the same for every player worldwide, with local streak and statistics tracking. They are a quick daily habit and a friendly way to compare notes with friends.
Every game is opened in a real browser at phone, tablet and desktop sizes and checked for script errors, missing files, content that is too wide for the screen and controls that are too small to tap. We repeat those checks whenever we change a game. Several of our recent games also have scripted tests that play them from start to finish with real touch gestures. You can read more on our How We Build and Test page.
OnlinePlayZone is free to use, with no paywall and nothing to buy. The site does not show ads today. We may add ads in the future to cover hosting and the time we spend building new games. If we do, they will be kept away from game controls and never placed inside the game area.
Every game on OnlinePlayZone is free to play, and no game offers a cash prize or any real-money reward. Scores and high scores are just for fun. We do not publish casino-style games, we do not offer in-game purchases and we do not ask for personal information to play. Game data stays on your own device.
Have feedback, found a bug, or want to suggest a game? Visit our contact page or email onlineplayzone915@gmail.com. The Help page answers common questions.