How we review

01Which games we consider

Any game that players in the UK can buy or download today on at least one mainstream platform. New releases and older favourites are judged in the same way.

02How the shortlist forms

Reader suggestions, games we keep recommending to friends and smaller independent releases share one shortlist. Games with a clear idea and a world of their own rise to the top. No one can pay to be on it.

03How we play

At least one of us plays each game to the credits where it has them, or long enough to understand its whole shape where it does not. Online and co-op games are played with friends and with strangers. If we cannot play a game properly, we do not score it.

04What the score weighs

• The idea: what the game sets out to do and how firmly it holds on to it.
• The feel: controls, pacing, difficulty and how good it feels to get better.
• The craft: art, sound, performance and stability on the platforms we played.
• The welcome: difficulty options, subtitles, remapping, comfort settings and how easy it is to start.

05From score to shards

One editorial score out of five, in tenths, is shown as five light shards and sets the tier on a game’s portal:

• Legendary find (from 4.8): One of the best games we have played. Clear a weekend for it.
• Must-visit world (from 4.5): Excellent, with a small caveat or two.
• Worth the trip (from 4.0): Very good for the right player; the review says who.
• For genre fans (below 4.0): Worth it if the genre is already your thing.

A game that would score lower than that is simply left off the path.

06Time and money, always

Every review ends with a checkpoint, a natural place to stop, and a line on what a game can cost after the first purchase. We point out memberships for online play, daily rewards, season passes and paid extras whenever a game uses them.

07Session and mood

Some reviews note the usual shape of a session (short, one long evening or best with friends) and its mood. These are guidance for planning an evening and never change a score.

08What we never do

No paid placements, no sponsored scores, no invented player numbers and no reviews written from trailers or press releases.

09Keeping reviews current

Links and platforms are checked regularly. When a big update changes how a game plays, we play it again before touching its score.