What is the difference between a WebGL game and a canvas game?

Canvas 2D has simple drawing calls for shapes and images. WebGL talks to the graphics card through shaders, which takes more work and is what 3D needs. Both run in the same page.

Do all browsers support WebGL?

Current versions of the major desktop and phone browsers do. A device can still refuse to create a context, for example with hardware acceleration off or an old driver, so plan for that.

Why does my WebGL game slow down after a few minutes on a phone?

Phones slow themselves down when they get hot, and memory can fill up. Lower the render resolution, cut effects, and release textures you no longer need.

Is WebGPU a replacement for WebGL?

It is a newer option, and support differs between browsers and devices. Keep a WebGL path unless you only want to reach browsers that support WebGPU.

How do I get players for my WebGL game?

A WebGL game should still work on weak hardware and say clearly when it can't. Detect missing WebGL and a lost context, show a plain message instead of a black rectangle, and keep a lower quality mode for phones and laptops with integrated graphics. Then list the link on Foundplay and tell players what devices it suits.

Updated October 10, 2026. Written by Foundplay, a game discovery platform for free browser games. Foundplay also sells Boost, a paid promotion for games, and this guide says where it fits. The advice before that part works without it. All guides

Fail with a message, not a black square

canvas.getContext("webgl2") returns null when the browser can't create a context. That can happen when hardware acceleration is off, the graphics driver is old or blocklisted, or too many contexts are open. Catch it. Show a sentence that says what went wrong and what to try, such as turning on hardware acceleration in the browser settings, and fall back to webgl if your game can run on it.

Survive a lost context

The browser can take the graphics context away, for instance when a phone is short on memory or a tab sits in the background. Listen for webglcontextlost and call preventDefault() in the handler, so the browser is allowed to restore it, then rebuild your buffers, textures and shaders on webglcontextrestored. A game that doesn't do this goes blank and stays blank.

Know the limits that vary

Maximum texture size. Query MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE and stay under what a phone reports.
Shader precision. Fragment shaders in WebGL 1 don't always support high precision on phones, so check before you rely on it.
Extensions. Float textures, instancing and anisotropic filtering exist on some devices and not others, so test for each one.
Memory. Large canvases and many big textures use it up quickly on phones.

Offer quality settings

Put a quality switch in the menu with a few levels: render scale, shadows, particles. Better, measure the frame time for the first seconds and lower the quality by one step if the game runs slowly. Many players won't open a settings screen, and will leave a game that stutters.

Libraries do some of this for you

Three.js, Babylon.js, PlayCanvas and PixiJS handle many of these differences. If you wrote raw WebGL, ask whether a library would save you weeks. The Three.js guide covers hosting and phones for the most common one.

Tell players what to expect

Foundplay marks games as phone-friendly or needing a keyboard, and the submit form asks. Put the real requirement in the one-line description if there is one ('3D, best on a computer'). Add a line to the loading screen about hardware acceleration. A clear promise brings fewer disappointed visitors than a hidden one.

How Foundplay can help

Foundplay is a game discovery platform for free browser games. It doesn't host games: every listing sends players to the creator's own site.

The free listing

Listing a game is free. Paste the link where people play it at /submit, check the details and publish. The game goes live right away, and Play sends players to your own site.

Answer the phone question honestly on the form. Your site is where your fallback messages do their work, so test them there.

Boost, the paid option

Foundplay sells Boost, so it has a reason to want you to buy it. The free listing works without it.

Starter shows how strangers' devices cope with your game, so check your own error reports and analytics after it. A play counts only the click, so it can't tell you who got a black screen unless your game reports it.

The Starter plan costs $5 for 50 plays in 3 days, which works out to 10¢ a play. Where it shows: its genre pages and search results.

A play is a counted click on Play from a sponsored spot, the same way public play counts work: once per game per network a day. Every sponsored spot is labelled Sponsored, and the share of plays not delivered by the end of the plan's days is refunded automatically. Foundplay can't see what players do after the click. Fan games and copies of commercial games can't be boosted. A game has to be listed before it can be boosted. List it first, or start a Boost and add your play link there, and Foundplay lists the game for free as part of the same flow.

For scale, Foundplay's own visit counter shows an average of 4,500+ visitors a day over the last three full days, and 600+ games are listed. It updates every few minutes.

List your game for free Boost with Starter See all Boost plans

More free ways to find players are in the full guide.

Questions

What is the difference between a WebGL game and a canvas game?: Canvas 2D has simple drawing calls for shapes and images. WebGL talks to the graphics card through shaders, which takes more work and is what 3D needs. Both run in the same page.
Do all browsers support WebGL?: Current versions of the major desktop and phone browsers do. A device can still refuse to create a context, for example with hardware acceleration off or an old driver, so plan for that.
Why does my WebGL game slow down after a few minutes on a phone?: Phones slow themselves down when they get hot, and memory can fill up. Lower the render resolution, cut effects, and release textures you no longer need.
Is WebGPU a replacement for WebGL?: It is a newer option, and support differs between browsers and devices. Keep a WebGL path unless you only want to reach browsers that support WebGPU.