How we actually decide on a score

People ask what a 4.5 means versus a 4.2, so here's the honest answer: it's a judgment, not a formula. But it's a judgment built on a routine we follow every time.

We play for hours, not minutes. We check how a game feels on both a good phone and an old one. We look at controls, pacing, how it respects your time, and whether we actually want to keep playing.

A high score doesn't mean flawless — it means the game does what it sets out to do, and does it well. A casual game and a sprawling RPG are judged against their own ambitions, not against each other.

We also try to name the flaws plainly. If a game gets repetitive in the mid-game, we'll say so even in a positive review.

The number is a shorthand. The words are the real review, so read those too.