How we actually decide a score

People ask why a fun-looking game gets a 3.9 while something plainer gets a 4.5. The short answer: we score against what a game is trying to do, not against every game ever made.

A cozy farm sim isn't judged on depth the way a strategy game is. We ask whether it delivers the thing it promises. A relaxing app that relaxes you is doing its job; a strategy game that's shallow isn't.

We also weigh how it feels over time. First-hour excitement is easy; the score reflects whether the game held up after we kept playing. Controls, load times, and how it handles being closed mid-session all factor in.

No score is objective and we don't pretend it is. It's the team's honest read after real play. If you disagree, that's fine — the review text matters more than the number anyway.