HTML5 Games for Mobile Operators: Portals, Billing and Source Code

HTML5 games for mobile operators usually reach subscribers through a branded games portal: a website or app view run under the operator's name, sold as a value-added service (VAS), often by subscription and charged to the phone account. HTML5 fits because the games open in the phone's browser, with nothing to install from an app store.

This guide is for operators, VAS providers and aggregators who are building or refreshing a games portal. It explains how the model works, using public examples from official pages, what a catalogue has to handle (languages, weak connections, cheap phones, billing, content rules) and what changes when you buy game templates with source code instead of licensing a hosted feed.

We are Polar Games, a studio that has sold game source code on CodeCanyon as author polargames since 2013 and sells HTML5 templates from its own store. We have no operator portal of our own to show you, so this guide describes the model and our templates, and says plainly where you need to ask before you buy.

HTML5 games for mobile operators: how the model works

There are three moving parts: a portal that shows the games under the operator's brand, a way to control access (free, subscription or per game), and billing that charges the subscriber. The games themselves are the content inside that frame.

Public case studies from MarketJS, a B2B HTML5 game provider, show the pattern on its own site:

• For Digicel, MarketJS describes a white-label games portal with a broad selection of games, integration with Digicel's billing system, optimised page templates and data collection. A 24-hour subscription gives access to the games, and free promotional games help turn players into subscribers.
• For a mobile content provider working across Europe, Africa, South America and Australia, it describes a portal with a subscription bound to the mobile number, HTML5 games playable on any smartphone or modern browser, and integration with the client's existing billing system.
• For a mobile operator in the Middle East, it describes a premium games portal in Arabic and English, on a monthly subscription, with over 200 HTML5 games in both languages.

On billing, carrier billing means the charge lands on the subscriber's phone account instead of a card. Google Play's help pages describe it from the consumer side: the charge appears on the carrier account, and not every carrier or country is supported. Payment companies such as Boku list Direct Carrier Billing among the payment types they offer to merchants. In a portal, billing lives in the portal and the operator's systems, not inside each game.

Buying games for a portal? See the options for companies

What an operator needs from a games catalogue

A portal is judged by its weakest game. Before you choose content, write down the requirements every title must meet. These are the ones we would put on the list.

Variety and volume

Subscribers come back for choice. Mix quick casual games with longer puzzles, card and board games and a few sports games, and check that each one has a clear start, a settings menu and a way back to the portal.

Localisation

Count three things separately: interface languages, content languages (words, questions) and recorded voices. Most of our editions list 14 interface languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese. None of them lists Arabic or a right-to-left layout, so for Arabic markets that is custom work.

Weak connections and offline play

Our games are static files. None of them needs an account or an online service to play, and editions such as Pip Club, Golazo, Aurora Words and Ludo Cats list their artwork and fonts as local files inside game/. Progress is saved in the phone's browser. The games run offline from the downloaded folder when it is served by a local web server. Zabum can also be installed as a PWA that works offline after the first visit over HTTPS; Mochi Monsters says it is not an installable offline app.

Devices

Test on the entry-level phones your subscribers really use. The 3D editions (for example Velvet Pool, Puttide, Sunset Rally and Trimora) need WebGL2. Several editions list touch controls, and Barricade Z lists portrait and landscape layouts.

Billing and access

Our games have no login, payment or subscription check inside. Access control and billing belong to your portal. Connecting a portal SDK or a subscription check to a game is a separate service we quote before any work.

Content rules

Our item pages do not state an age rating. Play each demo against your own content policy and your market's rules, and look at text content such as trivia questions or word lists with local eyes.

Licensed feed or source code: what changes for an operator

Many portals license games from a provider who hosts them and sends a link per game. That is quick to launch, and the provider keeps the code. Buying templates with source code is the other route, and it changes four things.

• You own the build. The game/ folder you host is the one you tested; it does not change unless you change it.
• You can translate. Interface texts sit in language files, so you can add or adjust a language for your market.
• You can rebrand. White label is allowed: the operator's or the portal's brand replaces ours, and you may change code, art and audio inside your end product.
• You can host anywhere. Static hosting, your own servers or a CDN close to your subscribers; no PHP or database is needed.

The limits matter just as much. One licence covers one end product, yours or one client's, so a VAS provider that runs portals for several operators needs a licence per operator. You may not resell or pass on the template or its source code on its own. And our terms say players may access the end product free of charge or through advertising. They do not mention subscriptions or carrier-billed access, so ask us in writing before you buy for a paid portal. For comparison, CodeCanyon's licence page says its Extended License is required when the end user must pay to use the end product.

Read the licence terms in full

Templates that suit a games portal

From our 28 editions, these fit a subscription or casual portal best. List prices in US dollars; all of them host as static files.

Casual and puzzle

• Gridspark, $29: 8×8 block puzzle with a seeded daily challenge, 14 languages, no build step.
• Mochi Monsters, $39: colour sorting, 60 levels plus Endless, touch controls.
• Tenguin, $39: number pairs with a Relax mode; title, logo and colour in a config file.
• Aurora Words, $39: word search in ten languages, each with its own word lists.
• Brain Mischief, $5: 30 lateral-thinking scenes, 14 languages.

See Gridspark: a daily puzzle in 14 languages

Cards and board games

• Boba Club, $49: Klondike solitaire with Draw 1 or Draw 3 and a daily challenge.
• Pip Club, $49: double-six dominoes against three computer opponents, mouse, touch and keyboard.
• Ludo Cats, $49, and Ludo Space, $49: Ludo for 2 to 4 players on one device or against the CPU.

See Pip Club: dominoes in 14 languages

Sports and arcade

• Golazo, $49: tabletop football with 50 national teams, against the CPU or two players on one device.
• Velvet Pool, $39: 8-ball against the CPU or a friend on the same device.
• Trimora, $19, and Pinloop, $24: one-touch and one-button games for short sessions.

Putting a template into a subscription portal

The technical side is ordinary web work. This is the order we suggest:

1. Host each game/ folder on the portal's domain or CDN, one folder per game.
2. Open games from the portal page, in their own page or a full-screen frame, behind your access check.
3. Give each game its own save name where the edition allows it, so progress stays separate per game.
4. Set the default language per market in the config file where there is one.
5. Replace logos and colours, keeping the third-party licence notices that ship with each game.
6. Test on your target phones on a slow mobile connection, then launch.

What a starter catalogue costs

Our list prices run from $5 to $59 per edition, paid once per licence. Buying several templates in one order lowers each licence: 5% off for two, 10% for three, 15% for four and 20% for five or more. Until 30 November 2026 a Black Friday promotion also takes 15% off every template, and the bundle discount applies after it.

Example at list price: Gridspark, Mochi Monsters, Pip Club, Boba Club and Golazo add up to $215; with the 20% bundle discount they cost $172. The checkout summary shows the exact total. Each purchase includes 6 months of support, or 12 with an extension priced at 30% of the list price. We issue a Brazilian nota fiscal on request and an invoice for buyers abroad.

Browse all templates and play the demos

Questions to ask any content supplier

• Does the licence cover paid access, by subscription or carrier billing, in writing?
• One licence per what: per game, per domain, per operator, per country?
• Do we get source code, compiled files or only links?
• Which interface languages, content languages and voices does each game have?
• Does the game call any outside server, ad network or analytics while it runs?
• Who fixes a defect, how long is support and what does a change cost?
• Can we see a demo of the exact edition we would receive?

FAQ

What are VAS games?

Games sold by a mobile operator or content provider as a value-added service on top of the phone plan, usually through a branded portal, often by subscription and billed to the phone account.

How does carrier billing work for games?

The subscriber pays through the phone account instead of a card. The charge appears on the carrier account, and support depends on the carrier and the country. In a portal it is handled by the operator's billing or an aggregator, not by the game.

Can we charge subscribers for games built on your templates?

Our terms cover free access and advertising. Subscriptions and carrier billing are not mentioned, so write to us before you buy and get the answer in writing for your case.

Can a VAS provider use one licence for several operators?

No. One licence covers one end product or client, so each operator needs its own licence. The bundle discount helps when you buy several in one order.

Do your games support Arabic?

No edition lists Arabic or a right-to-left layout today. Adding them would be custom work, quoted per project.

Next step

Pick five games for your first shelf, play the demos on your cheapest target phone and fill in the scorecard. Then send us your questions about licences and paid access before you order.

Contact us about games for a portal