How we actually review a game

People ask how long we play before writing, and the honest answer is: until the game shows its hand. For some titles that's two hours, for grindy ones it's much longer.

We install everything on ordinary mid-range phones first. If a game stutters, drains battery or heats the device, that goes in the review, because it's part of the real experience most readers will have.

We take notes constantly, usually in a messy document full of timestamps. The good moments and the frustrating ones both get logged, so the final verdict reflects the whole arc, not just the shiny opening hour.

Only then do we write. And if our opinion changed halfway through, we say that too, because it usually means the game has something interesting going on.