How we actually test a game before writing about it

People sometimes assume reviews get written off a quick play. Ours don't, and I want to be transparent about how it works. When a game lands on my phone, the first thing I do is just play it like a normal person for a day, taking no notes. First impressions matter, and I don't want to ruin them by analyzing too early.

After that comes the grind — literally. We push past the honeymoon phase to see what the game looks like when the novelty fades. That's where a lot of mobile titles crack, revealing paywalls or repetition that the first hour hid.

We test on more than one device, including an older phone, because performance on a flagship tells you nothing about how it runs for most people. Battery drain and loading times go into every review for the same reason.

Only then do we write. If two of us disagree strongly about a game, we say so in the piece rather than averaging our opinions into mush.