FAQ

What is this site?

SmashingArcade.org is an experimental site that aims to feature the best 100 online games ever made. We are experimenting with new ways to present games to people, and have been conducting extensive research visiting lots of online games websites. Along the way we’ve been building a huge database of games. At some point it occurred we might make a website out of it. Here it is.

How does the full screen technology work?

We are making use of iframes and a custom cross-platform javascript library to make the games appear full screen and instantaneous. The game loads in a hidden iframe, making the loading of the games appear instant when needed (this is why you can sometimes hear the game before you see it). All this adds up to a unique user experience which we think is how games should be played.

How much research is going into this?

There are hundreds of thousands of online games, and tens of thousands of online games websites. We’ve barely scratched the surface. It turns out the most popular games can have dozens of different variations – the Mario series for example has more than 50 online tribute games. One of these tribute games has at least 14 different versions of the game, distributed around the web.

Why are these games free?

Most of the games linked from this site are fan-based tribute games, developed either for the love of the game, or for the love of the challenge in recreating a classic from the past. These people generally do not profit from these games but learn new skills and gain exposure. Occasionally an original game owner will release an older game for free, in a browser version, and we are starting to see more of this.

Will you include our game?

We are aiming to build an authoritative directory of the best 100 online video games ever made. This will typically mean a game that has had tens of millions of games plays (i.e. popular), but hidden gems might make the cut. If you would like to nominate your game please contact us. In certain cases we will purchase site-locked licenses to games where available. All games must have little or minimal advertising (no pre-roll allowed).

How to exit full screen in Safari?

Safari’s full screen implementation is not working as well as Chrome and Firefox. It is sometimes possible to get ‘stuck’ in full screen mode in Safari when playing our games. The solution is to move your mouse to the top of the screen to get a menu which you can click on. You can also use the keyboard shortcut (command-W on Mac) to close the window after you have clicked somewhere on the screen.

What are your contact details?

hello [at] freevideogamesonline [dot] org