How We Choose and Rank Games
By Huzaifa Umer · Last updated
Gameziko lists 56,000 games collected from three game distribution networks. Duplicates and unlicensed copies of famous games are removed. Games are then ordered by an estimated popularity score, with a short list of well-known hits placed first by hand. No one can pay to change a game's position.
Step 1: Collecting games
The catalog is built from the public game feeds of GameDistribution, GamePix and GameMonetize, three networks that license HTML5 games to websites. Each feed provides a game's title, description, controls, category, tags, picture and the address used to load it.
Step 2: Cleaning the list
- Duplicates: when the same game appears on more than one network, one copy is kept.
- Unlicensed copies: titles that use another company's game, character or brand name (for example Minecraft, Mario or Subway Surfers) are removed.
- Categories: each network uses different genre names, so they are mapped to 19 shared categories using the game's title and tags.
Step 3: Estimating popularity
None of the networks share play counts, so each game gets a score from the signals they do publish:
| Signal | Points | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Listed on more than one network | 40 per extra network | Successful games are published widely |
| Position in GamePix's quality ranking | Up to 30 | GamePix sorts its feed by a quality score |
| How recently the game was released | Up to 5 | A small boost so new games get seen |
Example: a game carried by two networks that is halfway down GamePix's quality list scores 40 + 15 = 55 points, plus up to 5 for recency. A game on one network with no GamePix ranking scores at most 5.
Step 4: Hand-picked games
A short list of games that are widely known to be popular on major game sites is placed at the top of the homepage and categories, in a fixed order. Only games available through the networks are included.
Which game pages appear in search engines
Every game can be played, but only the top 1,000 games with a full description are submitted to search engines. Pages for less-known games, which have little information beyond the developer's short description, are marked "noindex" until they have more useful content.
Limitations
- The score estimates popularity; it is not a count of real plays.
- Category matching is automatic, so a few games may sit in a less obvious category.
- Name-based filtering cannot catch every copy. Report a game if one slips through.