How we decide on a score, and why we argue about it

People ask what a 4.4 actually means on our site. Honest answer: it means two or three of us played a game, talked about it, disagreed, and landed somewhere we could all live with.

We don't use a spreadsheet of weighted categories. A number like that would pretend to be objective when reviewing a game never is. Instead we ask simple questions. Did we keep playing? Did it respect our time? Did it do its own thing well?

The arguments are the useful part. One editor loved Hollow Lantern's slow pace, another found it dull, and hashing that out forced the review to explain who the game is for. That's more helpful to you than a tidy consensus.

A score is a summary, not a verdict carved in stone. Read the words around it, because that's where the real recommendation lives.