Play well

Pick a time to stop, or a point in the game, and tell somebody else if that helps. A clock beside the screen works better than good intentions, because idle games never announce that it is late.

Short sittings suit these four. A fire lit in A Dark Room can wait until tomorrow, and the candy count in Candy Box 2 will still be there.

Each game keeps progress differently. Universal Paperclips shows two save slots on its page. A Dark Room has a save link in its bottom row. Trimps keeps a save in the browser’s local storage and offers Export and Import for a backup file.

Candy Box 2 doesn’t describe saving on its first screen, so its FAQ is worth a read first.

With browser-saved games such as Trimps, clearing site data can remove progress. The same risk applies to any game that stores progress in the browser, whatever its page says. Export a file now and then.

This site asks for no sign-in, takes no payment and sets no cookies. If a game’s own site asks for something, that is between the player and that site, and the game’s own privacy and terms pages are the place to check.

Close the tab. A game that left a nagging feeling after ten minutes will not improve after two hours.