Troubleshooting

The advice on this page follows from how the player works. For background, see The game page and player controls.

The game does not load

When a game cannot start, the player says why and shows a Try again button.

Message	What it means	What to do
"Could not reach the server. Check your connection and try again."	The request that starts the game did not get through.	Check your connection, then press Try again.
"The game files could not be loaded. Please try again in a moment."	The site answered, but the game's main file did not.	Wait a little and press Try again.
"The game is taking too long to load. Check your connection and try again."	The game had not finished loading after thirty seconds.	Check your connection, then press Try again. Large games take longer on slow connections.
"This game is not available right now. It may have been taken down for maintenance."	The site reports that this game cannot be played at the moment.	Try later, or pick another game from All games.

Other things to check:

• JavaScript. The player needs it. With JavaScript switched off, the page shows a note saying so, with a link that opens the game directly.
• Content blockers and filtered networks. Each game is loaded from its own address, a subdomain of onegameaday.net named after the game. A blocker or network filter that allows the main site but blocks its subdomains stops games from loading.
• Try again later. Every time you press Play, the player asks the site afresh where the game is, so a problem on the site's side can clear without you changing anything.

The game loads but shows nothing, or is the wrong size

• Press Restart under the game. It loads the game again from the beginning.
• Some games measure the space they have only once, when they start. If you resized the window or turned your phone afterwards and the picture no longer fits, press Restart.
• A game made for a wide screen can look cramped on an upright phone. Turn the phone sideways; see Controls.

There is no sound

Browsers decide when a page is allowed to start playing sound, and many wait until you have interacted with it. The player passes its permission to play sound on to the game, but a game may still stay silent until you click, tap or press a key inside it.

If a game stays silent after that:

• Look for a mute or volume setting inside the game. Some games have a mute key listed among their controls.
• Check that the browser tab is not muted.
• Check the volume on your device.

The keyboard does nothing

Keys go to the game only while the game has keyboard focus. The player gives the game focus when it finishes loading, but clicking elsewhere on the page takes it away.

Click or tap once inside the game to give it focus again.

The reverse also applies: while the game has focus, site shortcuts such as / for search do not respond. Click outside the game first.

The mouse pointer has disappeared

Some games capture the pointer so that moving the mouse looks around. Press Esc to get the pointer back.

Full screen problems

• Nothing seems to happen on an iPhone. iPhone browsers do not allow full screen for part of a page. The button switches a full-window view on and off instead.
• I cannot find Restart, Favourite or Share. The bar that holds them is hidden while a game fills the screen or the window. Leave full screen first: press Esc on a computer, or the back arrow at the top on a touch device.
• Esc does not close the full-window view. That key only reaches the page while keyboard focus is outside the game. Use the back arrow in the top bar.
• The screen did not turn sideways. Locking the orientation only works in browsers that allow it. Turn the device yourself.

My saved progress is gone

Game saves are kept by your browser, separately for each game. The site has no copy and cannot restore them. Saves disappear when:

• You cleared your browser's stored data, cookies or browsing history with site data included.
• You played in a private or incognito window, which forgets everything when closed.
• You are using a different browser, device or browser profile from the one you played in.
• The browser removed stored data on its own, which browsers can do, for example when storage runs low.

Not every game saves at all. Check the game's instructions.

My favourites or recently played list is gone

The same causes apply, because those lists are also kept in your browser. See My games.

A game the team has retired from the catalog also drops out of your lists. Its page still works if you have the link, and it stays in the release history.

The game is slow

A game runs entirely on your own device, so its speed depends on that device and on what else it is doing.

• Close other tabs and applications.
• Leave full screen. The game then has a smaller area to draw, which can help.
• Try a different game. Games differ a great deal in how demanding they are.

Something inside a game does not respond

Games run in a restricted frame. By default a game cannot open new windows or tabs, cannot show browser pop-up dialogs and cannot load anything from other websites. A button inside a game that tries to do one of those things will appear to do nothing. This is a limit the site places on games, not a fault in your browser.

The new game has not appeared

When the countdown on the front page reaches zero, the page reloads itself after a couple of seconds. If you still see the previous game, reload the page.

If the front page says "Latest game" and not "Today's game", no game has been released in the current daily slot. See Game of the Day and the daily release.

Other messages

• "That page isn't here". The link is old or mistyped, or it points to a game that has not been released yet or has been withdrawn. Use All games to find what is available.
• "We're doing a little maintenance". The site is temporarily offline. Saved games and favourites are stored on your device and are not affected.
• The search panel does not open. Use the search box on All games instead.

Still stuck

The About page says how to contact the team. It helps to say which game, which browser and device, and what you saw.

A "report a problem" link on game pages is on the roadmap. It does not exist yet.