How the Playlin 40 works
What the chart measures
The Playlin 40 ranks the 40 most popular daily games on Playlin each week, based on launches and favorites.
A launch is when a player opens a game from Playlin. Favorites reflect the games players save on Playlin. These signals measure activity on Playlin, rather than a game’s total audience or completed puzzles across the web.
Activity from previous weeks also contributes to rankings, with its influence decreasing over time. This helps the chart reflect sustained interest while responding to changes in what players are playing and saving.
When the chart updates
A new chart is published every Monday at 9 a.m. ET. Each edition shows the dates its reporting period covers, along with each game’s movement, peak position, and number of weeks on the chart.
Which games are eligible
Any game listed on Playlin can chart if it is free to play, does not require an account to play, and has a daily reset.
How placement on Playlin affects the chart
Most places a game appears on Playlin count toward the chart. Categories, collections, Added This Week, ICYMI, Search, Meet the Makers, and mentions in the Playlin newsletter or on Playlin’s social accounts are all ordinary activity. Showing up in these places can lead to more activity, but a player still has to choose to launch or favorite the game.
A few editorial spotlights are excluded: the featured game and the indie spotlight on the Playlin homepage, the recommendations shown after a player finishes a game, and the My Dailies starter pack shown to players who haven’t added any games yet. Launches and favorites made on these placements, and on the game page a player opens from them, don’t count toward the chart.
The exclusion stops there. Once a player navigates elsewhere on Playlin, subsequent launches and favorites count as ordinary activity, including during the same visit. If a player finds a game this way and later returns on their own, that activity counts.
This is a limit on Playlin’s own influence, not a judgment about the games. A game can hold a spotlight and still chart, on the strength of the activity it earns everywhere else.
How paid placement affects the chart
Launches and favorites attributed to paid placement on Playlin are excluded from chart scoring. This applies to sponsored slots, paid promotion, and any future placement a creator or studio pays for.
The exclusion covers actions taken directly from the paid placement and on the game page it opens. Once a player navigates elsewhere on Playlin, subsequent launches and favorites count as ordinary activity, including during the same visit.
If a player discovers a game through paid placement and later returns on their own, their launches and favorites also count.
Paid promotion can introduce a game to players who become regular fans. Payment itself provides no ranking credit, and activity attributed to the paid placement is excluded.
Chart review and policy updates
Every chart is reviewed before publication. Activity that appears automated or manipulated is excluded, and Playlin may exclude games from the chart for manipulated activity.
This policy is reviewed as Playlin’s traffic and placement options change. Any change to what counts will be documented and dated here.
Effective September 2026.
