How we actually decide on a score

People ask why a cozy puzzle game and a sprawling RPG can end up with similar scores. The short answer: we grade each game against what it's trying to be, not against some imaginary perfect game that does everything.

When we sit down with a title, the first note is always about intent. Is this a five-minute time-killer or a hundred-hour campaign? A racer that nails speed and feel deserves a high score even if it has no story, because story was never the point.

We also weight the controls heavily. On mobile, a great idea buried under a fiddly touch interface is a broken game. Some of our lowest scores went to genuinely creative titles that were simply miserable to actually operate.

Finally, we sleep on it. First impressions lie in both directions — some games dazzle for an hour then collapse, others feel flat until something clicks on day three. The number only goes up when we've stopped noticing new problems.