Analytics Overview

Hyperstone Analytics provides powerful insights into how players interact with your game. Track gameplay events, monitor player behavior, and understand your audience with built-in analytics that automatically integrate with your Godot projects.

What is Hyperstone Analytics?

Hyperstone Analytics is a lightweight, privacy-focused analytics system designed specifically for indie game developers. It automatically tracks key metrics and allows you to define custom events to understand player behavior.

Key Features

Automatic Event Tracking

Game Launches: Track when players start your game
Session Duration: Measure how long players play
Purchase Verification: Distinguish between legitimate purchases and pirated copies
Platform Detection: See which platforms your players use

Custom Event Tracking

Track any gameplay event with a simple API
Attach custom data to events (level, score, items, etc.)
Normalized event names for consistency
Flexible data structure

Privacy-Focused

No personally identifiable information (PII) collected
itch.io download keys are hashed before transmission
GDPR and privacy-compliant by design
You control what data is tracked

Performance Optimized

Event batching reduces network overhead
Offline caching ensures no data loss
Minimal impact on game performance
Asynchronous, non-blocking operations

Built-in Dashboard

Real-time analytics in Hyperstone
Date range filtering
Visual charts and graphs
Export data for further analysis

How It Works

1. Enable During Export

When creating a build, enable the Analytics toggle in the export dialog. Hyperstone will:

Copy your game to a temporary location
Inject the Analytics SDK into addons/hyperstone_analytics/
Configure the SDK with your project's unique token
Export the build with analytics enabled

2. Automatic Tracking

The SDK automatically tracks:

game_start: When the game launches (includes platform and version)
game_close: When the game exits (includes session duration)
verified_purchase: If an itch.io download key is detected
unverified_launch: If no download key is present

3. Custom Events

In your game code, track custom events:

# Simple event
Hyperstone.track("level_complete")
 
# Event with data
Hyperstone.track("player_death", {
    "level": 3,
    "cause": "enemy",
    "time_survived": 120.5
})

4. View Analytics

Open your project in Hyperstone and navigate to the Analytics tab to view:

Total events and unique sessions
Verified vs. unverified launches
Top events by frequency
Time-series charts
Recent event logs

Use Cases

Understanding Player Behavior

Track which levels players complete, where they get stuck, and how they progress through your game.

Hyperstone.track("level_complete", {
    "level": current_level,
    "time_taken": level_time,
    "deaths": death_count
})

Monitoring Engagement

Measure session duration, return rate, and player retention.

Hyperstone.track("achievement_unlocked", {
    "achievement_id": "speedrunner",
    "time_to_unlock": play_time
})

Tracking In-Game Economy

Monitor purchases, currency flow, and item usage.

Hyperstone.track("item_purchased", {
    "item_id": "health_potion",
    "price": 50,
    "currency": "gold"
})

Detecting Piracy

Automatically distinguish between legitimate purchases and pirated copies.

The SDK checks for itch.io download keys and tracks:

verified_purchase: Legitimate purchase detected
unverified_launch: No download key (potential piracy)

A/B Testing

Track different game variants to see which performs better.

Hyperstone.track("tutorial_completed", {
    "variant": "new_tutorial",
    "completion_time": tutorial_time
})

Privacy & Compliance

What We Track

Automatically:

Game start/close events
Session duration
Platform (Windows, Linux, macOS, etc.)
Game version
Hashed itch.io download key (if present)

Custom Events:

Whatever you choose to track
Event names and associated data

What We Don't Track

Player names or usernames
Email addresses
IP addresses (not stored)
Location data
Device identifiers
Any personally identifiable information

Your Responsibilities

Don't track PII in custom event data
Inform players about analytics in your privacy policy
Provide opt-out mechanisms if required by your jurisdiction
Comply with GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy regulations

Performance Impact

The Analytics SDK is designed to have minimal impact on your game:

Memory: ~1-2 MB for event queue
CPU: Negligible (events queued in memory)
Network: Batched requests every 15 minutes
Disk: Only used for offline caching on network failure

Getting Started

Ready to add analytics to your game? Follow these guides:

Integration Guide - Enable analytics in your builds
Custom Events - Track gameplay events
Viewing Analytics - Understand your analytics dashboard
Best Practices - Tips for effective analytics

Pricing

Analytics is included with all Hyperstone plans:

Free Tier: 100,000 events/month
Pro Tier: Unlimited events
Data Retention: 90 days (Free), 1 year (Pro)