Our game reviews focus on the experience of playing the game. SteamOS performance is mentioned when it genuinely affects that experience, but the review itself is not a performance test. If performance is good enough that you never need to think about it, we reflect that. If performance holds the game back, we explain how and why. When a deeper technical breakdown is needed, we handle that separately through dedicated performance reviews.
We sometimes receive games for review coverage and we will always state this clearly. Our aim with single player games is to finish them before reviewing. When that is not possible, which should be rare, we will say how long we played. For multiplayer games, roguelikes and games designed around repetition or ongoing updates, we play them for a meaningful amount of time and state that time in the review so readers know the basis of our judgement.
We review all types of games. Small indie releases, mid-sized projects and major AAA titles are all treated on their own merits. A game does not need a big budget to earn a high score and a big production does not get special treatment. We also comment on value when it makes sense. Sometimes a lower-scoring game might still be worth buying because it has interesting ideas and a low price, and sometimes a higher-scoring game might be better to wait on because the cost is not in line with what it offers. If something seems contradictory at first glance, it is usually because price and ambition do not always line up neatly with the quality of the experience.
Reviews are subjective by nature, but our aim is always to be as objective and fair as possible. We explain why we reached a score so readers can understand the reasoning even if they might feel differently.
Our reviews use a five star scale and we use the whole range. Five stars is exceptional. Three stars is good with room to improve. One star is a warning that the game has significant issues that affect play. The idea is to give a clear, honest sense of what you are getting without overcomplicating things.
All reviews are independent. Publishers may provide codes, but that has no influence on what we write or how we score. We base every review on real play on SteamOS hardware and say exactly what we think.