Review method

Which games qualify

A game can join the list if players in the UK can buy or download it today on at least one mainstream platform. Recent releases and older favourites are treated the same way.

Where the shortlist comes from

Reader suggestions, long-time favourites and smaller independent releases all go onto one shortlist. Games with a distinct idea and a clear identity rise to the top. Nothing can pay its way onto the list.

How we play

Each game is played by at least one of us, to the credits where there are credits, or long enough to understand its whole structure. Co-op and online games are played with friends and with strangers. If we could not play a game properly, it is not scored.

What the score measures

Four things, in every game:

• Idea: What the game is trying to do and how well its world, story or systems hold that idea together from start to finish.
• Hands: How it feels to play: controls, pacing, difficulty and the satisfaction of improving.
• Finish: Art, sound, performance and stability, the craft that separates good from memorable.
• Welcome: Difficulty options, subtitles, remapping, comfort settings and how easy it is for a newcomer to start.

From score to tier

The score out of five, in steps of one tenth, places the game on the board:

• S (clear your evening for it): from 4.6
• A (excellent, with small caveats): from 4.3
• B (good fun for the right player): from 4.0
• C (worth it only for fans of the genre): below 4.0

There is no D tier: a game that would land that low does not make the list at all.

Stop points and costs

Each review ends with where a session can end well, what the game can cost beyond the first purchase and a reminder to check the PEGI rating. We flag streaks, daily rewards and long-session design whenever a game uses them.

What we never do

No paid placements, no sponsored scores, no invented sales or audience figures, and no reviews written from trailers or press material.

Updates

Links and platforms are checked regularly. When a major update changes a game, we play it again before changing its score or tier.