How we actually test the games we review

People sometimes ask how a small site like ours reviews so many games. The honest answer is that it's mostly stubbornness and shared phones.

Every game gets installed by at least two of us. We agree on a minimum amount of playtime before anyone writes anything, and we play on real devices, not emulators, because how a game feels in your hand matters as much as how it looks.

We also try to play the way normal people do — in short bursts, on public transport, with notifications going off. A game that's great in a quiet living room can fall apart on a noisy bus, and that's worth knowing.

Then we argue. A review usually gets read and poked at by someone who didn't write it, mostly to catch the moments where enthusiasm outran the evidence. It's not fancy, but it keeps us honest.