Quality Guidelines 🕵️‍♂️

Poki focuses on games that first and foremost are proven to be of interest to our players. Next to that, we look for games that are original, high-quality, and often add something new to the web games space.

While we appreciate the effort and creativity involved in all games, we are a highly curated platform and we reserve the right to decide which game content to show to our audience.

What Poki loves to see

💡 Originality & Uniqueness — Games that offer fresh gameplay ideas or put a creative twist on familiar mechanics. In other words, games that demonstrate clear differentiation — especially in oversaturated genres. If you are working on a game that is trend-inspired, see Trends & Trend-Driven Content.
🌐 Web-first — Games that are designed with the web as a primary platform, not just a mobile port.
💎 Polished Presentation — Games with high visual cohesion and pleasant animations. The UX should be consistent and responsive. Overall we love to see well thought out design and feedback loops that enhance the core experience.
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Wholesome & Inclusive Content — Games that use family-friendly themes or appeal to kids of all ages from all backgrounds.

What Poki will not work with

There are several reasons why we may choose not to move forward with releasing a game on Poki. While this list is not exclusive, these are the most common reasons:

😟 Games with unsafe themes for an audience of all ages - Poki only works with games that have safe and inclusive content which aligns with the Poki brand. Examples of what is not acceptable are games that include bullying, abuse, stereotypes, sexism, graphic violence, sustained scary themes, sex, inappropriate clothes, cheating, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, or other offensive materials.
©️ Games with unlicensed IP-usage or heavily inspired games - Poki takes the originality and integrity of games very seriously. We do not work with, or feature direct copies or clones of original titles. Adding such games is a violation of our Terms & Conditions. Even if a game isn’t a direct copy, we may still not be able to work with your game if its visual style, themes, game modes, and overall concept resembles well-known existing IPs. Poki also does not work with games that reuse templates or assets with little modification or creativity. That being said, Poki welcomes games that are inspired by other games and draw on known genres or ideas — as long as they contribute something new. See Clones vs inspired games for more information.
👎 Low quality games - Poki values quality in games and believes that beautiful things can and often do come in little packages. Examples of what is not acceptable include buggy or broken games, excessive load size, poor performance, confusing UX or poor or inconsistent graphics. Use special care when working with AI, see the Working with AI chapter for more information.

What happens if my game violates Poki’s quality guidelines?

We love to work with developers who are responsive to feedback and work with us to iterate on their games.

Q: Can I fix the issues and still publish my game?

It generally depends on the issues that your game has but this may be possible. Please be aware that we will only reconsider your game after significant improvement. Cases where this may be possible include:

For games with concerns about similarity to other titles, you might be able to add more innovation or change visuals, mechanics or levels.
For games with mildly inappropriate content, such as light dating mechanics, suggestive jokes or violent scenes, you may remove the problematic content or reframe your game.
For games with unpolished assets, confusing layout, or an uninspired theme, you can polish the game further.

NOTE: Games that misuse IP or contain adult themes will be rejected immediately.

Q: What if my game performs very well but violates the quality guidelines?

We may still decide against moving forward with your game. Please also note that while we try to be as transparent and responsive as possible, we are not able in all cases to go into detail about why your game was rejected.

Q: Where do you draw the line between clones and inspired games?

A one-to-one, obvious clone of an existing game will not be accepted on Poki. This includes exact copies of visuals, mechanics, UI, level design, or characters. Poki prefers you to come up with something totally unique but Poki also welcomes games that draw on known genres or ideas — as long as they contribute something new.

When a game is not a full copy but feels very close to another title, we look at the following specific dimensions to assess whether it’s merely inspired or a clone. Be aware that if your game walks the line of parody / inspiration, we may take your game down upon legal request. We may also choose to limit visibility in marketing campaigns. Below you can see a sample overview of different categories, and what would be considered inspiration vs. direct cloning.

Art Style:


❌ Almost identical visual style to another game, including colors, shading, themes.	✅ Stylistically different or reimagined — for example, changing the theme entirely (post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, underwater, etc.).

Core Gameplay Mechanics:


❌ Directly copying the gameplay loop, goals, and player inputs without change.	✅ Introducing a unique mechanic, twist, or polish — for example, adding time-loop mechanics, meta-game layers, or blending genres.

Level design / in-game economy / game progress:


❌ Same progression structure, pacing, and monetization methods.	✅ New design; original level flow or progression logic. Adjusted monetization.

UI / icons / audio / font:


❌ Replicating another game’s color scheme, button layout, icon style, or audio cues.	✅ Creating a distinct interface with different layout, color use, and custom assets.

Characters / skins:


❌ Using the same character designs, unique animations, or silhouettes as another title.	✅ Designing original characters with unique silhouettes, animations, and avoiding IP infringement.

Game name / thumbnails:


❌ Nearly identical or intentionally similar to another title, especially to leverage search terms.	✅ Naming and visual presentation focused on your own content, avoiding misleading SEO tactics.