How We Actually Score Games

People ask why we never hand out a 5.0. The honest answer is that no game is flawless, and pretending otherwise helps nobody. Our scale runs a little tighter on purpose.

A score from us reflects how a game holds up over real play, not launch-day excitement. We note the rough edges because you'll run into them too, and a review that hides them isn't worth much.

We also weigh what a game is trying to be. A quick casual collection and a sprawling RPG get judged against their own ambitions, not against each other. That's only fair.

So when you see a number, read the words around it. The score is a shorthand. The review is the real thing.