How our ratings actually work

People ask why we don't give out more fives, so here's how our numbers come together. A rating is one person's summary of a lot of hours, not a precise science. Treat it as a starting point, not a verdict.

We weigh how well a game achieves what it set out to do. A simple arcade game and a sprawling RPG are judged against their own ambitions, not against each other. A 4.4 arcade title can be a better recommendation than a 4.6 RPG for the right player.

We also factor in how the game treats you. Respect for your time, fair difficulty, and honest design push numbers up. Dark patterns and padding push them down, hard.

Nothing gets a perfect score, because we've never played a flawless game. A 4.9 means we struggled to find real faults, which happens maybe once a year.

Read the words, not just the number. The paragraphs tell you whether a game is for you far better than a single digit ever could.