Editorial Standards

These standards describe how Free Play Bay prepares and approves game guides. They are designed to keep public articles tied to real playable games, prevent speculative or repetitive publishing, and make important claims verifiable through the current build.

Source-specific publishing

  • Every approved guide must link to a live game available on Free Play Bay.
  • Controls, objectives, scoring, progression, enemies, upgrades, and other mechanics are checked against the actual game source.
  • Guides for hypothetical, planned, unavailable, or unrelated games are not approved.
  • Generic strategy is included only when it is connected to the behavior of the Free Play Bay version.

Gameplay and screenshot review

  • An administrator manually plays the current build before final approval.
  • Each approved guide uses at least two original screenshots from the related game.
  • Every selected screenshot has descriptive alt text and a visible explanatory caption.
  • The gameplay review date and optional version/build label are recorded on the guide.
  • Images are not automatically cropped in ways that hide game context.

Authorship and corrections

Guides are published under the Free Play Bay Development Team byline unless a different real contributor is identified. Material game changes trigger a new review. Corrections can be submitted through the contact page; confirmed factual errors are corrected rather than preserved for traffic.

Indexing and advertising gate

A guide remains noindex and ad-free until its related game exists, screenshots and captions are complete, source review and gameplay review are confirmed, the review date is present, and final manual approval is recorded. Changing imported guide content automatically removes prior approval so outdated review metadata cannot silently carry forward.

Ads are not loaded on the guide directory, filtered results, 404 pages, drafts, unapproved guides, game screens, or account and utility pages.

Page structure and originality

Guides are not required to follow one article template. Depending on the game, an article may use step sequences, quick-reference tables, warning callouts, strategy scenarios, checklists, screenshots, or conventional explanatory sections. Word count is only a baseline safeguard; it does not replace source review, screenshots, or manual editorial judgment.

Last updated July 19, 2026