Our Review Process FAQ
You’ve read our game reviews, you’ve seen the scores, and maybe you’re wondering how we reach our occasionally unhinged conclusions. Fair question. Here’s a look behind the curtain at how we evaluate the games you love, hate, and love to hate.
So, Who Actually Plays This Stuff?
The answer depends on the game, but it’s always someone who knows what they’re doing. Most of the time, the process is straightforward. We lock ourselves in a dark room with an unhealthy amount of caffeine and play a game until there’s nothing left to discover. We live in it, breathe it, let it consume our waking hours until we know every mechanic, every flaw, every hidden strength. That direct, firsthand experience forms the foundation of most of our reviews.
Sometimes, though, a game demands a different approach. Maybe it’s a genre none of us specialize in, or maybe we want perspective that isn’t shaped by our own sleep-deprived biases. In those cases, we hand the game off to one of our trusted guest writers—people who are genuine experts in that specific genre.
These aren’t random contributors we found online. Everyone on our team works somewhere in the game industry: developers, students, QA testers, and more. That background gives us real perspective. We understand the struggles behind game development, but we’ve also developed a finely tuned detector for corporate spin and questionable design decisions.
What’s the Deal with AI? Is a Robot Writing This?
Let’s clear this up: no, AI does not write our game reviews. The opinions, the analysis, the questionable metaphors—that’s all 100% human. The passion and the frustration are real.
That said, we’re writers who spend more time dissecting game mechanics than memorizing style guides. Once our raw, unfiltered thoughts are on the page, we use AI editing tools for grammar and spelling. These tools catch typos, fix comma splices, and help ensure our caffeine-fueled drafts are actually readable. The ideas, judgments, and voice? Entirely human, entirely ours.
What’s the Deal with Free Keys? Are You Guys Sellouts?
Let’s address this directly: yes, sometimes developers and publishers send us free review copies. We’re always transparent about this and clearly disclose it at the bottom of any review where we received a complimentary key.
Now for the important part: free keys have zero impact on our scores. A review copy is not a bribe—it’s a press pass. It gets us access so we can do our job: telling you whether a game is worth your time and money. A free game doesn’t buy a favorable score. It buys coverage, period. If the game is a masterpiece, we’ll celebrate it. If it’s a broken mess held together with false promises, we’ll tell you that too. Our loyalty is to you, our readers, not to any publisher’s marketing department. Our scores are our own, our opinions are our own, and that will never change.
If you have any inquiries, collaboration ideas, or feedback, feel free to reach out.
