How we test a game before we review it

People sometimes assume reviews are written after a quick spin. Ours aren't, and I want to be transparent about the process because it's the whole reason to trust a score.

Every game gets installed on at least two phones: a current mid-ranger and an older device that's seen better days. The old phone is where performance problems show up first, and it's how we judge whether a game is friendly to people who aren't upgrading every year.

We play for several sessions over a few days, not one marathon. That's how you notice whether a game stays fun or wears out its welcome, and whether battery drain creeps up as your save file grows.

We also poke every settings menu, remap controls, and note what helps. Only after all that do we write the review and settle on a score. It's slow, but it's the only way we'd feel okay publishing it.