How High Scores Work in Arcade Games

The high score is the oldest motivation in arcade games: a single number that says "you did this well, now do better". On Dog Arcade every game keeps a Best score, and it is still there when you come back tomorrow. But where exactly is that number kept, and why might it disappear?

This guide explains how best scores are saved in browser games, why Dog Arcade stores them only on your device, what can erase them, and how to use a personal best as a practical training tool rather than just a number.

What Dog Arcade saves

Each game keeps a Best score for each difficulty: one for Easy, one for Medium and one for Hard. They are tracked separately because the settings change how a game plays. A few games record something other than points:

• Dog Race saves your best time, where lower is better.
• The Daily Dog Challenge saves your result for each day's challenge.
• Most other games, such as Dog Runner and Puppy Jump, save a points total.

Alongside scores, the site also remembers your favorites and recently played games, using the same storage.

Where the scores live: LocalStorage

Dog Arcade has no accounts and no server that collects scores. Instead, it uses LocalStorage, a small key-value store built into every modern browser. When a run ends with a new best, the game writes that number to LocalStorage under a name tied to the game and difficulty. When you open the game again, it reads the value back and shows it.

LocalStorage has a few properties that explain almost everything about how your scores behave:

• It is per browser. Chrome, Firefox, Safari and other browsers each keep their own storage. A best set in one browser does not appear in another, even on the same computer.
• It is per device. Nothing is synced between your phone and your laptop through the site.
• It is per site. Only pages from the same site can read the stored values, so another website cannot see your Dog Arcade scores.
• It persists. Values stay after you close the tab or restart the device, until something clears them.

What can erase your best scores

Because scores live in browser storage, anything that clears that storage clears them too:

1. Clearing browsing data. Choosing to clear cookies and site data, either for all sites or specifically for this one, removes saved bests, favorites and recently played games.
2. Private or incognito windows. These typically start with empty storage and discard it when the window closes. Scores set there will not carry over.
3. Browser storage cleanup. Some browsers and privacy tools remove site data automatically after a period or when space is low.
4. Reinstalling or resetting the browser. This usually removes stored site data as well.

If you want your bests to last, play in a normal window in the same browser, and avoid clearing data for the site.

Why no global leaderboards?

A global leaderboard needs accounts, a server to receive scores, and a way to deal with invalid submissions. Dog Arcade is a simple static site that keeps things light: no sign-up, no personal data collected for scoring, and nothing to manage. The trade-off is that your best is personal. You are competing with your previous self, which for most people is the most useful comparison anyway.

If you want to compare with friends, the easiest way is to play the same game on the same difficulty and share your results however you like. The Daily Dog Challenge suits this well, since everyone gets the same challenge on the same date.

A note on how scores are compared

When a run ends, the game compares your result with the stored best. For points-based games, a higher number wins. For time-based results like Dog Race, the comparison flips and a lower number wins. If there is no stored value yet, your first result becomes the best. This is also why a best only ever improves: a worse run never overwrites it.

Keeping your scores safe

A few simple habits protect the bests you have worked for:

• Pick one browser for playing. If you use several browsers, choose one as your game browser so all your bests collect in the same place.
• Check before clearing data. Many browsers let you clear history without clearing site data, or clear data for specific sites only. If you want to keep your scores, leave Dog Arcade's data in place.
• Review privacy extensions. Some tools wipe site storage when a tab closes. If your bests reset every visit, that is a likely cause.
• Write down a best you are proud of. A screenshot or a quick note is the simplest backup, since there is no cloud copy.

Using your best score to improve

A personal best is more useful as a tool than as a trophy. A few ways to use it:

• Set a narrow target. Aim to beat your best by a small margin rather than by a large one. Small wins are more frequent and keep you motivated.
• Stay on one difficulty. Since each difficulty has its own best, focusing on one lets you see steady progress.
• Look at why runs end. The best score tells you how far you got; paying attention to the moment the run ended tells you what to practice.
• Move up when progress stalls. If your Easy best has been steady for a while, try Medium. The new best starts from zero and the game feels fresh.

For concrete score-raising techniques, see how to get better scores in arcade games, and to understand what the numbers reward in each game, read arcade scoring systems explained. The broader technical picture is in how HTML5 browser games work.

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