How does it work?

Creating your account and signing in

You can read the site without an account. To write, comment, follow games or make friends, you need one: it is free, with no targeted ads.

Signing up

1. Click Sign in at the top right, then the Sign up tab.
2. Choose a username of 3 to 20 characters (letters, digits, _ and -). This is what other members will see.
3. Enter your e-mail address, from your internet provider or a major service (Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo…). It is never shown on the site.
4. Choose a password of at least 12 characters. A short sentence is ideal. The site refuses passwords that are too common, contain your username, or appear in known data leaks.
5. Open the confirmation e-mail and click the link: your account is ready.

Signing in

• You can sign in with your e-mail address or your username.
• Stay signed in keeps your session for 30 days on this device. Without it, you are signed out when you close the browser. Don’t tick it on a shared computer.
• Forgot password? e-mails you a link to choose a new one. All your open sessions are then closed.
• After several failed attempts, signing in is paused for a few minutes: this protects against bots.

Once signed in, the header changes: the bell shows your notifications, your username opens your account menu, and the Write button leads to your blog.

Protecting your account

Everything is in your profile (account menu), in the “Account & security” section. Only you can see it.

• Two-factor authentication: on top of your password, the site asks for a 6-digit code from an app on your phone (Aegis, 2FAS, Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator…). Even if someone finds your password, they can’t get in. Keep your backup codes safe: they help if you lose your phone.
• Passkeys: sign in with your fingerprint, your face or your phone’s PIN, with no password.
• Signed-in devices: the devices where your account is open. You can sign one out, or all the others at once. You also get an e-mail each time you sign in from a new device.
• Sign-in details: change your e-mail address (a confirmation link is sent to the new one) or your password.

The site will never ask for your password by e-mail or message. If someone does, it’s a scam.

Your profile

What others see

Each member has a profile page: their picture, role, sign-up date, gaming accounts, blog and groups, latest posts, followed games and a cloud of their friends. Click a username anywhere (comments, search, friends list…) to open it.

• Visitors without an account never see profiles.
• At the top of your profile, choose who sees all of it: all signed-in members, or your friends only. Others then only see your picture, username and sign-up date.

Your picture and gaming accounts

• Profile picture: choose an image, then drag it to keep the right part. It replaces your initials everywhere on the site.
• Gaming accounts: add your Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch IDs so others can add you. Leave empty what you don’t want to show.

Your data

Download my data gives you a file (JSON) with everything the site knows about you, to move it elsewhere; Readable version gives you the same information as a page that opens in your browser. Delete my account deletes it for good after 30 days: if you change your mind, just sign in again before then.

Your blog

Every member can open one personal blog, for free. Click Write at the top right: the first time, the site offers to create your blog (a name, a short introduction, a colour).

Then, Manage my blog (account menu) lets you:

• change your blog’s name, introduction, colour and banner (drag the image to frame it);
• find all your posts, published or drafts;
• edit, delete or pin a post: a pinned post stays at the top of your blog.

Writing a post

A post is built with blocks: a paragraph, then a heading, an image, a video… Add them with the “Add a block” buttons, and reorder them with the ↑ ↓ arrows.

Post details

• Title (3 to 140 characters) and standfirst: one or two sentences shown under the title and on cards.
• Post type: News, Review, Retro…
• Platforms: tick those concerned. None, or all: the post is filed as “Multi”.
• Tags: keywords separated by commas (8 at most), to find your post.
• Cover image: from your computer, or by pasting an image link.

Blocks

Paragraph

Your text, with the formatting described below.

Heading

Splits your post into parts; they appear in the table of contents on the side.

Key points

A box with the essentials (1 to 8 lines).

Quote

A highlighted sentence.

List

One line per item (30 at most).

Image and Gallery

JPEG, PNG, WebP or GIF, 10 MB at most, from your computer or by link. A gallery holds 2 to 12 images; from 3, they scroll as a carousel. The site resizes your images and removes their hidden data (photo location, device…).

Video

Paste a YouTube, Twitch or Dailymotion link. A link with a timestamp (?t=30) starts the video there. Nothing loads from these sites until the reader clicks.

Social post

An X, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok or Reddit post: paste its link. The site shows a copy of it, so your readers aren’t tracked.

Spoiler

Hidden text, shown only on click.

Poll

A question and 2 to 6 answers; members vote and see the results.

Verdict

A score out of 10, with pros and cons (8 of each at most).

Formatting

Select text, then use the toolbar above the block (or Ctrl+B bold, Ctrl+I italic, Ctrl+U underline, Ctrl+K link). You can also type it:

The 😀 button adds emojis, and ⌫ clears formatting. HTML code is never interpreted: you can’t break anything.

Publishing

• Save draft: your post stays invisible to others. You can come back to it later.
• Preview: your post as readers will see it.
• Publish: it appears on your blog, the Blogs page and the homepage. Your followers are notified.
• Unpublish turns it back into a draft.

Your post is automatically translated into the site’s other languages, with a link to your original version.

Writing together: groups

A group is a blog written by several members, for in-depth features or reviews. Find them in My groups (account menu).

• Any member can create a group and becomes its admin. You can belong to 5 groups at most, on top of your personal blog.
• The admin invites members by username. The invitation arrives in the bell and is accepted from “My groups”.
• Each member writes their own posts, signed with their name. The admin can edit every post in the group; others only their own.
• A group has one admin, who can hand over the role. If they leave, the longest-standing member takes over.
• After a refusal, you must wait a week before inviting the same person again.

Commenting and reacting

• Under every article and post, write your comment (3,000 characters at most), with the same formatting as posts and up to 3 images.
• Reply places your answer under the comment and notifies its author.
• Quote copies the comment’s text into your reply. Tip: select a passage first to quote only that part. You can shorten the quote before sending (500 characters at most).
• The ❤️ shows you like a comment. Under posts and articles, you can also react with 🔥, 🚀 or 🤔.
• You can edit or delete your comments. An edited comment is marked “edited”.
• A comment written in another language has a Translate button.

Friends and messages

• Send a friend request from the Friends page (with their username) or from a member’s profile. They can accept or decline it.
• After a refusal, you can ask again after 24 hours. On the third refusal, your requests to that person are blocked for a month.
• Private messages are only possible between friends: click Write. They are stored encrypted on the server.
• Messages are deleted after 3 months. You are warned 7 days before (notification and e-mail): to keep a conversation, open it and click Download. You get a page to keep on your device.
• Removing a friend stops messages but keeps your history. Blocking someone stops their requests (without them knowing).
• An inappropriate message can be reported to moderation: moderators only see that message.

Following and getting notified

The bell in the header counts your new notifications: replies, quotes, friend requests, messages, new posts from blogs you follow, game releases…

• Follow a blog (button on the blog page): you’re notified of every new post.
• Follow a game (the bell in the release calendar, or “Follow” on the game page): you’re notified on release day.
• Wishlist: keep track of the games you fancy.
• Everything is in My subscriptions, on your profile.

In the calendar, filter by platform, search for a game, switch between list and month views, and add releases to your calendar (Google Calendar, Outlook, phone…). Click a game to open its page: details, articles and posts about it.

On a game’s page and in the “Game info” box of articles, the publisher and developer appear next to the cover, with their logo, when they are known. When an article is about a company (a rumour about a studio, for example), a “Company profile” box presents it: its logo and its upcoming games from the calendar.

Finding what you’re looking for

• The magnifying glass in the header searches everything: articles, posts, blogs, members, games and videos.
• On the home page, news, Retro and blogs, filter by platform or type, and choose between cards and a compact list with the ▦ and ☰ buttons at the top of the page; the choice applies to the whole site (except the release calendar, which has its own views) and is remembered.
• Top stories, on the home page: the big articles rotate on their own. Click the small bars at the top right of the picture to pick one; hovering pauses the rotation.
• The whole card of an article, post, video or game is clickable, not just its title. A blog or author name still leads to its own page.
• The globe changes the site’s language (French, English, Japanese), and the moon switches to dark mode.
• The Live ticker at the very top scrolls the latest news.

Ambiances, sounds and music

The site’s background is animated: petals in Towa Play colours drift down gently (slower and fainter while you read an article or a post).

• Platform ambiances: on the home page, news, Retro and blogs, pick a platform in the filters. The background takes on the colours of that console family (PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox, PC). “All” brings the petals back.
• Sound: the Sound button (🔇), at the top of the page, plays a short sound each time you switch platform. It is off at first.
• Music: the Music button (🎵), at the top of every page, opens a menu with five ambient tracks (Zen garden, Neon night, Lo-fi café, Pixel, Space). Pick “None” to turn it off. It is off at first.
• Your sound and music choices are remembered. Browsers forbid automatic sound, so the music resumes on your first click on each new page. It pauses when you switch tabs.
• All sounds and music were made for Towa Play: none is copied from a console or a game.
• The Animations button (✨) at the top of the page stops or restarts the animated background, the Live ticker and the top stories rotation. The site remembers your choice.
• If your device is set to reduce motion, the background stays still.

Reporting and community rules

• A post, comment, profile or message seems inappropriate? Click the flag and pick a reason. The author never knows who reported them.
• On the third report, content is hidden automatically while moderators review it.
• Moderators can warn, suspend or ban a member who breaks the community rules.
• For a question, an account problem or to join the team: the contact form.