Publish a Game on itch.io: Steps for Vibe Coders

To publish a browser game on itch.io, pack it into a zip with index.html at the top level, upload it and answer the question about generative AI honestly. The usual trouble is a small packing mistake, so check the zip before you upload it.

What must be in the zip?

This is what itch.io's guide for HTML5 games said on 2 November 2026. The site refuses automated visits, so we could only read it as search excerpts. Check the page yourself.

• index.html sits at the top of the zip, not inside a folder.
• At most 1,000 files after unpacking.
• At most 500 MB in total, and no single file over 200 MB.
• File paths of up to 240 characters.
• File names count upper and lower case as different.
• A zip file. Other formats, such as .rar or .7z, are not accepted.

Why does a game that works at home fail there?

Say you made Gull Patrol, an invented game about chasing gulls off a pier. It runs perfectly on your laptop. On itch.io you get a black screen.

• Upper and lower case. The code asks for assets/gull.png, and the file is called Assets/Gull.png. Your own computer often lets that pass. The server does not.
• One folder too many. You zipped the whole folder, so the zip contains gull-patrol/index.html and nothing at the top.
• Paths that point at your computer. A picture loads from your own disk, which no player has.
• A build that was never made. Some projects need a build step before they can go online. Your AI knows if yours does.

What are the steps?

1. Have your AI make the final version and pack it, using the prompt below.
2. Create a new project on itch.io and upload the zip as a browser game. The form guides you, and its wording can change.
3. Answer the question about generative AI. According to November 2024 reports, itch.io asks whether a game uses it and for what: graphics, sound, text and dialogue, or code. So vibe-coded code is one of the categories. Classic game AI, such as enemies finding a path, does not count. Those reports differ on whether game pages must answer or only asset packs, so check, and answer truthfully either way.
4. Open your page in a private window, then on a phone.
5. If you want to sell it, read itch.io's payment page first. It said you choose the share itch.io gets, from 0 to 100 percent, with 10 percent as the default. Payment fees come on top, and a payout needs a balance of at least $5. More in making money with your game.

Paste this to your AI

Prepare my browser game for upload to itch.io. Do not upload anything.

1. Build the version that players get, and put it in one zip file.
2. Draw how the game loads its files as a Mermaid diagram, from index.html to every script, picture and sound. Follow each arrow to a real file inside the zip, matching upper and lower case exactly. Show me every arrow that ends nowhere, and any link to my own computer or to something outside the zip.
3. Open the finished zip and report what is really in it: where index.html sits, the number of files, the total unpacked size and the largest file. Give real figures. The limits I know of are 1,000 files, 500 MB in total and 200 MB per file. Check itch.io's current page if you can, and tell me if you could not open it.
4. Start the game from a local web address, not by double-clicking the file. Tell me what you tried and what happened. If you could not do this, say so.
5. List what in this game came from generative AI: graphics, sound, text and dialogue, code. If you do not know, write "unknown", so I can answer itch.io truthfully.

Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP

How to check it worked

• Open the zip yourself. The first thing you see should be index.html, not a folder.
• Play it logged out. Use a private window, so you see what a stranger sees.
• Try a phone. If it does not work there, say so on the page.
• Reload twice. The second load often shows what the first one hid.
• Send the link to a friend and ask what they see before you tell them anything.