How We Actually Review a Game

People ask how we land on a number, and the honest answer is that the number comes last. First we play — a lot, and in the way a normal person would, in short sessions across several days.

We take notes on the things that matter over time: does the story keep its shape, does progression feel earned, do the controls still work when you're tired and lying on the couch. A game can dazzle in hour one and fall apart by hour ten.

Only after all that do we argue about a score, and yes, we argue. A 4.2 and a 4.6 can spark a long conversation, because those small differences are where honesty lives.

We'd rather be slow and right than fast and loud.