How We Pick Games for Gerk Games
Our actual curation process, not a marketing pitch
People often ask how we decide which games to build, given that we could clone almost any popular browser game in a weekend. We're picky on purpose. Here's how we actually choose.
Step 1: idea filtering
Every game starts as an idea on a shared list. Anyone on the team can add one — a mechanic we enjoyed elsewhere, a classic worth reinterpreting, a small twist on a familiar format. That list has hundreds of entries. Most never get built.
Before a game makes it to a prototype, it has to pass one question: can we make a version that's genuinely fun in under three days of work? If a concept needs a month of engine work to be playable, it doesn't fit how we operate. We build lean, original games that load instantly — not sprawling projects.
Step 2: the 30-second test
Once we have a rough prototype, we play it for at least 30 seconds before deciding whether to continue. If the core loop isn't fun within those 30 seconds, no amount of polish will save it. If the controls feel unresponsive, we either fix the input handling immediately or shelve the idea.
About 40 percent of our prototypes fail this step and never ship. That's by design — we'd rather kill a weak idea early than publish a game nobody enjoys.
Step 3: the 5-minute test
For games that pass the first filter, we play five minutes. We're looking for: clear instructions or self-explanatory mechanics, no aggressive in-game purchase prompts, no obviously broken levels, no content that's inappropriate for general audiences.
About another 30 percent fail here. The most common issue is "monetization that breaks gameplay" — pop-ups every 60 seconds, paywalls disguised as difficulty walls, locked features that change the game.
Step 4: category fit
Even good games sometimes don't make our cut because we already have something similar and better. We try to keep each category meaningful, not stuffed with five versions of the same idea. If a new game is the third "spin the wheel and shoot balls" game in the Arcade category, only the best of the three stays.
Step 5: ongoing review
Even our own published games can drift over time. A browser update can change how something renders, or we'll spot a balance issue players keep hitting. We re-check our top games quarterly and fix or pull anything that has gotten worse.
Players can also report issues. Anything reported gets re-tested within a week. Most reports turn out to be browser-specific issues, but maybe one in five is a real game problem that leads to us pulling the title.
Things we won't list
To be explicit, here are categories we won't add no matter how popular they are: anything featuring real public figures, anything that copies a recent TV or movie property without authorization, anything with content unsuitable for under-13s in our general categories, anything that requires payment to actually play, anything that asks for personal information before it'll let you start.
This is why our library is smaller than the big game portals. The size isn't the goal — every title being one we actually built and stand behind is.
How to suggest a game
If there's a game you'd like to see on Gerk Games, email us. We test every reasonable suggestion. About one in ten makes it onto the site.