Game Website Deep Links: What Should a Link Reopen?
A shared link from an interactive game website should reopen the content someone intended to share. If a visitor selects a character and copies the address, the next person should reach that character, with enough context to continue exploring. Define that destination before approving the page's animation.
Decide what the address represents
Our recommendation is to give meaningful destinations a shareable address: a character profile, a location chapter or a particular trailer. A decorative camera angle or hover glow usually does not need one. The question is whether someone would reasonably want to return to that content or send it to a teammate.
Consider a hypothetical character gallery. A visitor opens Mara's profile from the cast. Copying the address should produce a link that opens Mara's introduction directly, rather than the gallery's default character. The page can retain its animated reveal, but arriving through the link should not require replaying an unrelated opening sequence.
Write the expected result in plain language: “Mara selected, introduction visible, cast navigation available.” That gives the designer and developer one concrete behavior to verify, regardless of the URL format they choose.
Test the link without the original visit
Copy the address after making the selection and open it in a fresh private window. Check the title, selected character and visible content. Reload it. Repeat on a phone, where the same information may use a different layout. A link that works only because the first browser remembers your earlier clicks is incomplete.
Then navigate from the cast to Mara and from Mara to another character. Press Back and Forward. Our recommended behavior is to revisit those meaningful selections without stepping through every animation frame or unexpectedly leaving the site.
MDN's History API guide explains how JavaScript-driven pages can record navigation entries and restore content when visitors use Back and Forward. Updating the address is only one part of the implementation; the destination also needs to load correctly from a new visit.
Separate sharing from search discovery
A working shared address is not a promise of a separate Google result. Google's link guidance recommends real anchor links with an href pointing to a resolvable URL. Ask your developer to verify that important destinations have crawlable links, rather than relying entirely on scripted clicks.
Keep the acceptance check small: record the copied URL, expected selection, fresh-visit result, reload result and Back/Forward result. Resolve failures before promoting that link in a campaign.
Planning an interactive launch site? Explore Twined's website work and tell us which characters, places or reveals visitors should be able to share.
