Why our scores don't go all the way up

People sometimes ask why we rarely give a game a 5.0. The short answer is that we're not grading on effort, we're describing how much we enjoyed playing. A perfect score would mean we couldn't think of a single thing to change, and that almost never happens.

Our scale starts at 3.8 for a reason. If a game drops below that, it usually means we'd rather you spent your time elsewhere, and in that case we simply don't publish a full review.

A 4.0 to 4.3 is a solid game with clear rough edges. A 4.5 and up is something we'd recommend without hesitation. The number is just a shorthand for the words around it, so please read those too.

Scores are subjective, and we say so openly. Markus loves racers more than strategy, so his bias shows. That's why every review explains the reasoning instead of hiding behind a number.

If you disagree with a score, that's fine and honestly expected. Write to us. Some of our best follow-up pieces started as a reader telling us we were wrong.