How we actually decide a game's score

People ask how a game ends up with, say, a 4.3 instead of a 4.5. The honest answer is that it's a conversation, not a formula, but there's method behind it.

We weigh how a game feels over hours, not minutes. Controls, pacing, how fair the progression is, and whether it respects your time all matter. A gorgeous game with clumsy controls will lose points fast.

We also grade against a game's own ambitions. A small cozy sim and a sprawling RPG aren't judged by the same yardstick — we ask whether each one did what it set out to do, and did it well.

You'll notice we rarely hand out the top score. That's deliberate. A near-perfect rating should mean something, and most games, however good, have a rough edge or two.