How our ratings actually work, and what a number means

Our scores run from 3.8 to 4.9, and there is a reason we do not go lower. We simply do not review games we think are genuinely bad, because there are too many good ones to spend time on. So think of our scale as a range of recommendations, from solid to essential.

A number here reflects how much we enjoyed a game against what it set out to do. A simple arcade title and a sprawling RPG are judged by different standards. We do not punish a cozy game for lacking depth it never wanted.

Fun matters more to us than feature lists. A game can be technically impressive and still bore us, and a modest little title can be a joy. The score tries to capture that feeling, not a spreadsheet.

When you disagree, and you will, drop us a line. Some of our favorite conversations start with a reader telling us we got a score completely wrong.