Help DocsBy implementing the Game Jolt Game API you can add trophies, leaderboards, cloud data storage, and sessions to your games to get players coming back for more!
Learn more about the Game Jolt API
Libraries / Plugins
There are many libraries and plugins developed by the community already. Rather than write custom code for interfacing with the Game API directly, most developers tend to use one of the already written libraries.
Data Formats
The API can return information in different formats that can be defined by the developer.
Tokens
When you make an account on Game Jolt, you get a Game Token. Named after the coins you drop into arcade cabinets and subway turnstiles, your token is a string of numbers and letters that lets you log into games that use Game Jolt's Game API.
Your token is different from your password and should stay that way. If someone gets ahold of your token, they can access your game data, but they won't be able to sign into the site and mess with your account.
When you play a game that uses the Game API, your token is used to access score tables, trophies, cloud data storage, and other features made possible by the API. Some API-enabled games log you in automatically; others require you to manually enter your username and your token in-game.
You can find your token any time at the bottom left corner of your screen, next to your avatar. Click or tap "Game Token" and you'll be shown a screen where you can view and change your token. If you change it, be sure to choose something different than your password.
Remember that your token and your password should never be the same thing. Don't share your password with anyone. Game Jolt staff will never ask you for it.
Sessions
Sessions are used to tell Game Jolt when a user is playing a game, and what state they are in while playing (active or idle).
Scoreboards Guide
Scoreboards are a great way to get gamers to engage with your game through competition. The Game Jolt Game API allows you to add multiple, customized scoreboards to your game.
Multiple scoreboards
Create multiple scoreboards and have, for example, one for each level of the game, as well as one for global scores. Or make scoreboards that rank players by something other than points, such as time, kills, or cookies eaten.
Guest scoring
Enable guest scoring so players without Game Jolt accounts can submit their scores. Be aware that allowing guest scoring could result in unwanted and offensive names on your scoreboard. Submitted names are case sensitive.
Unique scores
If you enable unique scores and someone submits multiple scores, only their best will be displayed. Turn off unique scoring to make a traditional, arcade-style scoreboard where the same person can occupy multiple slots.
Sort direction
You can set a scoreboard's sort direction to be descending (bigger numbers on top) or ascending (smaller numbers on top). Most scoreboards are descending, but you'd want to use ascending if you have a game where, for example, lower times are better, or a golf game.
Score strings vs sort values
When logging a player's score in your game, you can make the score string different from the sort value. The sort value is an integer and the basis for a score's ranking. The score string can be more than just a number and is what shows up on the scoreboard.
Example Sort Value: 5
Example Formatted String: 5 bubbles popped
Extra data
You can use the extra data field to collect additional information such as play time, number of keystrokes, etc. to weed out cheaters. The user will never see this--it is accessible only from the developer dashboard.
Trophies
Game Jolt allows you to add trophies to your games! You can even add secret trophies that aren't visible until achieved!
Trophies are intended for games that utilize the Game Jolt Game API. You can set up different trophies on Game Jolt before integrating them into your game. Assign materials to your trophies carefully because they award Game Jolt EXP points to the player when achieved.
Trophy materials
Trophy materials correspond to how easy or difficult they are to achieve. Each material offers a set amount of Game Jolt EXP points:
Bronze – 5 Game Jolt EXP
Silver – 10 Game Jolt EXP
Gold – 15 Game Jolt EXP
Platinum – 20 Game Jolt EXP (Platinum should be 4x more challenging than Bronze!)
Secret trophies are great bonus challenges! When a trophy is marked Secret, only its name and difficulty level will be visible to players. Everything else will stay hidden until it is achieved.
Trophy images
Trophy images aren't required, but we highly recommend adding them to make your trophies stand out.
Here are the guidelines for trophy images:
Use a square image.
The image format can be PNG or JPG. PNGs will result in the highest quality.
Your original image should be as large as possible.
The maximum dimensions are 2000x2000px.
The maximum file size is 3MB. If your file is larger, try compressing and/or optimizing the image.
Only use an original image created or captured by you or your team.
Testing trophies
You can keep trophies hidden while testing your game's integration. Only you, the developer, will be able to see hidden trophies.
Data Storage
A cloud-based data storage system. It's completely up to you what you use this for. Cloud data storage is a powerful feature of the Game API. You can use it for saving games or for hosting and sharing user-created content, like levels or maps. You can track player stats or allow asynchronous, turn-based online play. It can be used for an in-game messaging system or for instant replays. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. We can't wait to see what you come up with!
You can store global data items and user data items. For the time being, only global data items can be viewed and managed from your dashboard.
Friends
You can get information about a user's friends on Game Jolt to enhance your games with social interactions.
Time
When you need to synchronize clients, you can grab time information from Game Jolt's servers.
Batch Calls
A batch request is a collection of sub-requests that enables you to send multiple API calls with one HTTP request.