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. Big releases and small independent games are judged in the same way.

§02How the shortlist forms

Reader suggestions, games we keep recommending to friends and quieter releases share one shortlist. Games with a clear idea and a distinct identity 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 team games are played with friends and with strangers. If we cannot play a game properly, we do not rank it.

§04What a rank 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 is to improve.
• The craft: art, sound, performance and stability.
• The welcome: difficulty options, subtitles, remapping, comfort settings and how easy it is for someone new to start.

§05From rank to band

One editorial rank out of five, in tenths, sets the band shown on a node:

• Overclocked (from 4.8): Among the best games we have played. Clear a weekend for it.
• Fine-tuned (from 4.5): Excellent, with a small caveat or two.
• Solid build (from 4.0): Very good for the right player; the review says who.
• Workbench (below 4.0): For fans of the genre, rough edges and all.

§06Branches

A game’s branch on the tree comes from one fact we record: the usual shape of a session (quick matches, one long evening or best with friends). The mood filter reads a second fact, the game’s usual mood. Neither ever changes a rank.

§07Cooldown and upkeep

Every review names a cooldown, a natural place to stop a session, and the upkeep, what a game can cost after the first purchase. We point out premium currencies, seasonal passes, expansions and paid random items whenever a game has them.

§08What we never do

No paid placements, no sponsored ranks, 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 rank.