How we test a game before writing about it

People sometimes ask how long we play before reviewing. The honest answer: as long as it takes to have something real to say, usually a week or two.

One of us installs the game and just plays it like a normal person — no cheat sheets, no dev builds. We take rough notes about what annoys us and what pulls us back. Then we compare notes as a team, and that's where the arguments happen.

We deliberately push past the honeymoon phase. A lot of games are charming for an hour and hollow by day three, and the only way to catch that is to keep playing. The score comes last, after the discussion, not before.

It's not scientific and we don't pretend it is. It's just careful play and honest talk, which is more than a trailer will ever give you.