How we test a game before writing about it

People sometimes ask why our reviews take a while. It's because we don't judge a game from a trailer. We install it on a real phone and live with it.

Our first check is always the offline test. Fresh install, tutorial, then airplane mode. We note exactly where things break, because that's the detail readers actually need.

After that we play in the way you would — short sessions on a commute, one longer stretch at home. We track battery drain, how pushy the game is, and whether it respects your time.

Only then does Markus edit the draft. If two of us disagree on a score, we argue it out until the rating feels honest.