How we actually review a game

People ask how a number ends up next to a game on this site, so here's the honest version. It starts with someone on the team wanting to play the thing, not with a calendar or a deadline.

We install it on at least two phones — usually one recent and one deliberately older — and play for about a week in the way we normally would, in short bursts and the odd long session. We take notes on controls, battery, stutter and how it feels to return after a day away.

Then we argue. Someone loves it, someone finds it dull, and the review usually lands somewhere in that tension. The rating is a summary of that discussion, not a formula, which is why we'd rather explain our reasoning than pretend it's science.

We don't accept payment for coverage and we don't let publishers see reviews early. If that changes anything about how much you trust the number, good — it should.