How we test
A score is worthless if you do not know how it was produced. Here is exactly what we do before we put a number on a game.
The rules we hold ourselves to
Four commitments. They are not marketing lines — they are the reason a score here means something different from a score on a site that reposts press releases.
- We play on a fresh account, and we spend nothing before the score is written.A reviewer with a mature account and a stocked inventory cannot see the wall a new player hits in week three.
- Every review lists at least two real downsides. Not « may feel repetitive » — something specific enough to be checked, like an energy cap or a pity counter.
- The score is locked before any commercial discussion. A partnership never moves a number. If a publisher declines to work with us, the review stays up unchanged.
- We say what we could not verify. When a figure comes from the community rather than the publisher, we write it. When we have not re-tested after a major patch, we write that too.
Minimum time played
Twenty hours minimum on a fresh free account, across at least one full week of real days. The calendar matters as much as the clock: daily reset mechanics, energy regeneration and login rewards cannot be understood in one long session.
For live-service games we go further where it is needed. A game whose economy only reveals itself at account level 40 gets tested to level 40, however long that takes.
What each sub-score means
| Sub-score | What we are actually judging |
|---|---|
| Graphics | How it looks and how well it runs, on the hardware most players actually own — not a top-end PC. |
| Gameplay depth | Is there a real decision to make? Does mastery change outcomes, or only time spent? |
| Content | How much there is to do, and how long before you reach the end of it. |
| F2P fairness | The one that matters most here. What a player who never spends can actually reach, and where the wall appears. |
The overall score is a judgement, not an average. We decide it, then check that the four sub-scores make it defensible. If they do not, one of the two is wrong.
The scale
We use rarity tiers because every player already reads them without a legend.
How we make money, and what it does not buy
This site is free to read. It earns from two sources: a commission when you install a game through a Play free button, and display advertising. Both are disclosed on every page where they appear.
Neither buys a score, a position in a ranking, or the removal of a downside. Ouraffiliate disclosure explains the arrangement in full.
Re-testing
Live-service games change. We re-test after every major season or balance patch that affects progression or monetisation, and the Updated date at the top of each review tells you when that last happened. A review we have not re-checked after a significant patch says so.
About the images
Game screenshots and key art belong to their publishers. Rather than republish them, we illustrate articles with photographs released under free licences — convention and event photography where it exists, thematic illustration where it does not. Every image carries its author and licence. An image captioned Illustration does not show the game.
When we get it wrong
Tell us. Corrections are made on the page itself, with the date, not quietly.Contact us with what is wrong and how you know.