A story about trying out for an overseas game site and finally passing on the third try.

In order to have players from more countries play, we have applied for ``CYBER GOMOKU'' to the overseas browser game site CrazyGames. After failing twice, I was able to advance to the basic launch stage of the test on my third attempt.

In this record, we will summarize the changes that were actually made before and after the application, without concluding any details for which the official official did not provide a detailed reason.

1st time: Remove external links that do not meet the rules of the destination

The first submitted version still had a link that would take you to another site from the game screen. Because the distribution destination had rules regarding external links, we removed the relevant links from the portal build.

What may be a natural feature on your own site version becomes a factor related to withdrawal and safety on external portals. I learned that it is necessary to check not only the game content, but also links, logins, advertisements, and screen transitions for each distribution destination before submitting.

At this time, I manually deleted the link and submitted it, which led to the system later on. Currently, the build settings (Vite configuration and feature flags) are used to separate the ``web publication version'' and ``platform submission version,'' and the presence or absence of external links, logins, and advertising tags are automatically determined during the build. We have created a mechanism to prevent the same mistake of forgetting to erase it manually from happening again.

2nd time: Review the difficulty of understanding immediately after starting the game

In the second result, there was no detailed explanation to identify the areas that needed to be corrected. Therefore, we actually played the games published on the same portal and compared the first experiences.

Many games provide controls and objectives immediately after starting, so players don't have to wonder what to do next. On the other hand, Cyber Gomoku at the time had a long flow from the explanation screen to the start of the game, and it was difficult to understand the meaning of the special abilities on the first play.

Improvements made to the initial conduction process

• Shortly communicate your initial objective immediately after opening the game
• Proceed naturally from the operating instructions to the actual game
• Don't explain your special abilities too much at once, so you can check them when necessary.
• Do not display features or external leads that are not available in the portal version

After applying these factors for the third time, I was informed that my application would proceed to Basic Launch. However, since it has not been made public which changes determined the review results, it is not possible to determine a causal relationship.

Submitting it wasn't the end

Basic Launch is not an official release, but a test release to some users. After that, we move on to the stage of improving while looking at actual responses such as click rate, play time, and retention rate.

From this experience, I learned that the completeness of a game includes not only the rules and presentation, but also the requirements for the distribution destination, explanations immediately after the game starts, and differential management for each function. Currently, we have separate build settings for each distribution destination, making it difficult for the same problem to occur.

Pre-submission checklist created from 3 applications

For individual developers who are about to apply to external portals, we have summarized our experience as a pre-submission checklist. Please note that the terms and conditions differ depending on the distribution destination, so please use this only as a confirmation.

• Is there still a link button that allows you to go from within the game to an external site?
• Are any functions that do not work in the distribution destination environment (login, online battles, etc.) still displayed on the screen?
• Does the game tell you what the game is about and how to operate it within 30 seconds of startup?
• Can you finish the first play without reading the explanation? (If in doubt, compare it with the first experience of a popular game from the same distribution destination)
• Have you confirmed that the submission build is actually launched in the distribution destination test environment (or local iframe)?

The fourth point was particularly effective. My game is so obvious to me that I don't notice how difficult it is to understand at first glance. ``Playing and comparing other games published on the same site'' was the most practical way to guess the judging point of view.

This article is based on the application experience as of May 2026. It does not describe the latest requirements of CrazyGames. When applying, be sure to check the current rules of the delivery destination.