How we actually decide a rating

People ask why one game gets a 4.7 and another a 4.0, so here's the honest answer: it's a conversation, not a formula. Three of us play a game and then argue about it until we agree on a number.

We weigh how a game feels to control, how well its systems hold up over hours, and whether it wastes our time. Story matters for RPGs and adventures; feel matters most for racers and arcade games.

We don't average up spreadsheet categories. A game can nail everything on paper and still feel hollow, and no rubric catches that. So we trust the argument instead of the checklist.

The number is just a shorthand. The review text is where the real opinion lives, so if you care, read past the score.