How we actually decide on a score

People ask us how we land on a number, as if there's a spreadsheet with a secret formula. There isn't. A score here is a shorthand for a conversation, and we'd rather you read the words around it.

We start by asking whether the game does what it set out to do. A simple arcade racer and a sprawling RPG aren't judged on the same scale — we grade each against its own ambitions. A tiny game that nails one idea can score higher than a bloated one that does a dozen things poorly.

Then we weigh how it feels to actually play over several sessions. Does it hold up past the first hour? Do the controls stay comfortable? Does it respect your time? These things matter more to us than graphics or feature lists.

A score below 4.0 doesn't mean a game is bad — it usually means it's fine but flawed, or just not for everyone. Read the review, look at the highlights, and decide for yourself. The number is a starting point, never the whole story.