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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “games”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “games”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Game Review Block shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Video Gallery – YouTube Playlist, Channel Gallery by YotuWP places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Dinosaur Game 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Video Gallery – YouTube Playlist, Channel Gallery by YotuWP 10K+ · 4.7★ (322) wp.org #15 10 too low 6 Interactive Content – H5P 40K+ · 4.8★ (61) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 JoomSport – for Sports: Team & League, Football, Hockey & more 1K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #10 ↑3 3 too low 8 Personal Dictionary – Vocabulary Games, Memory Games 70+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #4 ↓1 4 too high 9 GeeK! – Movie & Game Database 70+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 RPB Chessboard 1K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Bricksable for Bricks Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (61) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 GravityExport Lite for Gravity Forms 10K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #19 ↑4 7 too low 13 StreamWeasels Twitch Integration 1K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #12 ↑4 1 too high 14 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #23 ↓9 9 too low 15 GamiPress – Gamification plugin to reward points, badges & ranks in WordPress, now with AI 10K+ · 4.9★ (493) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Game Review Block 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 M Multi Device Switcher 10K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #13 ↓2 4 too high 18 Create 6K+ · 4.3★ (25) wp.org #18 ↑2 19 SiteSEO – SEO Simplified 400K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #14 ↑10 5 too high 20 Playgama: Embed Games and Monetize 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓1 9 too high 21 AnWP Sports Leagues – Basketball, Ice Hockey, Handball, Rugby & More 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Key Manager – Effortlessly sell license keys, game keys, pin codes, gift cards, and more with WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↑2 6 too high 23 PuzzleMe – Interactive Puzzles for WordPress – Easily publish crosswords, quizzes, word searches and more 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Gaming-Plus Game Server Status 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 3 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.