How We Actually Test a Game Before Reviewing It

People ask how long we play before writing, and the honest answer is 'until we have an opinion we'd defend out loud.' For most games that's a few hours. For bigger ones it can be a week or two.

We install on more than one phone on purpose. A game that runs beautifully on a flagship might stutter on a three-year-old device, and plenty of you are playing on exactly those. Performance notes come from real sessions, not spec sheets.

We also try to play the way a normal person would — short sessions, interrupted, sometimes tired. If a game only shines under perfect focus, that's worth knowing.

Finally, we sleep on it. First impressions lie in both directions, and a night's gap often changes the score. What felt amazing on day one sometimes gets dull by day three.