How GameBallot ranks games

Two groups, ordered by outbound clicks

Approved developer submissions and listings with verified ownership appear first. Unclaimed games follow. Within each group, games are ordered by counted outbound clicks in the current UTC calendar month. Equal totals are ordered by listing ID, oldest first.

A claim request alone does not change the rank. A moderator must verify ownership and approve the claim. A submitted game must be approved before it appears. “Developer submitted” means an approved submission; “Ownership verified” means we also checked control of an existing listing’s official site.

What counts as a click?

A click on “Play this game” can count once per game per account or browser per UTC day. Owner visits, moderator visits, recognised bots, link previews, and prefetched pages are excluded. Bursts of repeated requests are limited. Opening a redirect link directly does not count.

These are visits sent to a game, not player counts or a quality score. Cookie clearing, shared browsers, and unrecognised automation can affect totals. We retain click history when the month changes. A tracking failure does not stop you reaching a game.

Browser storage

We use a first-party visitor cookie for up to 90 days to reduce repeat counting. Click records store hashed visitor identifiers, not raw IP addresses. Short-lived hashed IP keys limit bursts of requests. Account and session cookies support sign-in and form security.

Votes and other views

Anyone can vote for a published game once every 24 hours, with or without an account. Without an account, the limit is one vote per game per internet connection per day, so people sharing a connection share one vote. A vote from an account with a verified email counts as 3 votes and is limited per account. Recognised bots cannot vote. Vote totals shown on GameBallot are these weighted totals.

Votes lead the feed order but do not affect the default click ranking. The “New arrivals” view orders games by publication date.

The feed

The feed’s “Top this month” order uses three counts from the current UTC calendar month: votes first, then counted outbound clicks, then page views. Equal totals are ordered by listing ID, oldest first. “New” orders games by publication date.

A page view counts once per game per visitor per UTC day. We do not set a cookie for this: the visitor is a hashed combination of IP address, browser and date, and no raw IP address is stored. Owner and moderator visits, recognised bots, link previews and prefetched pages are excluded.

Player rewards

Some developers reward their players for voting. A game links its player to GameBallot with a signed link, and that player earns points for the game once a day when they vote. Reward votes count like any other vote. Points belong to one player in one game, can only be earned, and cannot be bought, sold, transferred or exchanged for money. The developer delivers the items players choose; if an item is not delivered, the points are returned.

Sponsored placements

Developers can pay for a sponsored slot on the home page or in the feed. Sponsored games are always labelled “Sponsored” and shown apart from the rankings. Paying does not change a game’s rank, votes, or counted clicks. Up to three games share each placement and take turns in the first spot.

Research and claims

Unclaimed listings are independent descriptions based on official sources. We link those sources and show when the information was checked. Inclusion does not mean a developer has joined or endorsed GameBallot. Owners can claim an existing game by proving control of its official site or domain.

Listings are free. Report inaccurate information from a game page. Moderators can reject submissions, remove misleading listings, and review claims and edits. Approved content stays live while a developer’s proposed edits are reviewed.