How we actually test a game

People sometimes assume reviewing games is just playing and then typing a number. There's a bit more to it, and the dull parts are what keep our scores honest, so here's roughly how it goes.

Every game gets installed on at least two phones, one newer and one that's a couple of years old. We play across several sessions on different days, because first impressions and third impressions are rarely the same.

Alongside the fun, we take notes on the stuff that's easy to ignore: how fast the battery drops, whether controls can be remapped, how loading times feel, and how pushy the game is about grabbing your attention.

Only once all that is written down does anyone talk about a score. We argue about it, sometimes for too long, and then we publish. The number is subjective by nature, but the notes behind it are as fair as we can make them.