How our ratings actually work

People sometimes ask why we don't give out more fives. The honest answer is that our scores are personal, not scientific. A rating here reflects how much the editors enjoyed a game relative to what it was trying to do, not some objective measurement.

A 4.2 from us is a good game with a few rough edges we noticed over real play. A 4.6 is something we genuinely struggled to put down. We don't dock points for small budgets or simple graphics; a modest game that nails its one idea can score higher than a flashy one that fumbles.

The score always comes after the words, not before. We write the review first based on how the game actually felt, then pick a number that matches. If the number and the text ever disagree, we trust the text.

So read the paragraphs, not just the number. The number is a shorthand; the review is where the real opinion lives.