What our numbers actually mean

People ask why we bother with numbers at all if we admit the score is subjective. Fair question. The number is a shorthand for the text, not a replacement for it.

We don't average category points. Nobody sits here scoring 'graphics: 8, sound: 7.' A rating is the editor's overall sense after finishing the game, weighed against what it was trying to do. A cozy puzzler and a sprawling RPG can both earn a high mark for very different reasons.

Anything below 4.0 from us usually means a real flaw — broken controls, a difficulty spike that feels unfair, or a loop that runs out of ideas fast. We rarely publish reviews of games we couldn't finish, because an unfinished review isn't useful to you.

Read the highlights and the last paragraph if you're short on time. That's where the honest summary lives.