Install the game as an app
Français · Type: how-to · Audience: player · Context: player's browser · Status: ready · Applies from: 4.1.8
The installed game (PWA) and offline play · contract: stable · verified by CI (support matrix of 4.4.0, 2026-10-23): Chromium, WebKit and Firefox: installed, updated after a durable save, reinstalled; Offline in Chromium and Firefox · automated checks: jobs
e2e,pwa-firefox; CI plane2e,pwaFirefox; 1 test file · people's passes:safari-ios-offline-updatenot run (#86),firefox-real-offlinenot run (#80) · known limits:safari-not-tried-on-device
A quest'n'click game is a web page that can be installed like an app (a PWA, a progressive web app) and then played without a network. This page is for players: phones and computers, browser by browser.
What you get
An icon on your home screen or in your applications that opens the game full screen, in landscape, and a copy of the whole game in your browser's cache, so it plays offline after the first visit. Your saves stay on the device.
Context and versions
Any game built with quest'n'click and served over HTTPS (the sample game is at
wanoo.github.io/quest-n-click). What this page says holds from 4.1.8, when
install, update and reinstall were proven in Chromium, WebKit and Firefox in CI; the offline copy of the whole game
exists since 3.1. A game's author can choose to cache only the rooms near you (offline: 'nearby'): the pause menu
then shows no offline row, and a room never visited may need the network.
Prerequisites
- A recent browser: Chrome, Edge or another Chromium browser, Safari, or Firefox.
- A network connection for the first visit, long enough for the whole game to download (the pause menu shows it).
- Some free storage: below 64 MB free, the game does not start the download and says so.
Where to do it
On the device you will play on, in its browser. Nothing to type in a terminal.
Steps
- Open the game's address online and start or continue a game. From the title screen and after each room, the game fetches the current room and its neighbours first; then, during idle time, the rest of the game, batch by batch.
- Install it from your browser:
- iPhone and iPad (Safari): the Share button, then Add to Home Screen. Open the game from that icon once, online.
- Android (Chrome): the menu (⋮), then Install app or Add to Home screen.
- Computer (Chrome, Edge): the install icon in the address bar, or the menu, then Install.
- Firefox: Firefox keeps the offline copy in the browser as the others do; whether it offers to install the page as an app depends on your Firefox version and system. The offline play works either way.
- Wait for the offline copy. Open the pause menu: the Offline row counts the files ("312/400…") and says complete ("jeu entier en cache" in French in the sample game) when every file of the game is in the cache. A warning sign ("312/400 ⚠") means some files are missing; tap the row to retry. Files already cached are never fetched twice, so the download resumes where it stopped, even after a reload.
- Check it: turn on airplane mode, close the game completely, open it again. The title loads, Continue resumes your save, and a room you never visited shows its pictures and sounds.
Guarantee ·
offline-complete-means-cached· referenced · executed onaff6caab7514· scope self-checked by the author (AI), not reviewed When every file of the game's offline plan is in the cache, the offline status is complete, and the pause menu's line says so.
A failed file, a skipped batch or a lack of space leaves it partial, with the reason.
Limit ·
safari-not-tried-on-deviceNobody has yet installed a game from Safari on a real iPhone, played it offline and updated it: the passsafari-ios-offline-updateis open (#86) as of 4.4.0. CI cannot navigate WebKit offline, so on Safari the offline game is only checked in its installed and updated parts. Safari may also clear the storage of a site you have not opened for seven days: open the game now and then.
Expected result, and how to check it
- The game opens from its icon, full screen, in landscape.
- The pause menu's Offline row says complete.
- In airplane mode the title, your save and every room are there.
Common errors
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The Offline row stays at "0/400" or shows ⚠ at once | The browser asked to save data (Data Saver, Save-Data), or the link is 2G: nothing is downloaded. On a link slower than 3G, music and video wait | Connect to Wi-Fi, then tap the row to retry |
| ⚠ with fewer files than the total | A file failed to download | Tap the row to retry; files already cached stay |
| ⚠ and nothing downloads, even on Wi-Fi | Less than 64 MB free on the device | Free some space, then retry |
| ⚠ just after the first install | The game's service worker did not take control of the page in time | Reload the page, then retry from the pause menu |
| No Offline row in the pause menu | The game caches only the rooms near you (offline: 'nearby') | Play online; a room you have visited stays in the cache |
More in Player troubleshooting.
Files or data changed
In your browser, for the game's site only: the app shell and the game's files in the cache (Cache Storage), your saves in IndexedDB, your settings in local storage. See Privacy.
Recovery or going back
To remove the app: delete its icon (long press on a phone; uninstall from the browser on a computer). Removing the icon may leave the site's data; to erase it (and your saves), clear the site's data in the browser's settings. Export a save first if you want to keep it (Saves).
References
- Player troubleshooting, Saves, Stability and support.
- For authors: Sub-path, cache and service worker.
- The code:
src/engine/dom/offline.ts(the plan and its status),src/engine/dom/update.ts(the warm-up and the update). - The Safari checklist people follow:
docs/dev/SAFARI-OFFLINE.md.