How we decide on a rating

People ask us all the time what a number actually means here. The short version: a score is our overall feeling after real play, not a formula. We don't add up points for graphics and sound and call it a day.

That said, we keep a few things in mind every time. How do the controls feel? Does the game respect your time, or does it nag you to come back? Would we keep it installed after the review is done? That last question tells us the most.

We also play on more than one device when we can, because a game that's smooth on a new flagship can stutter badly on something two years old. Our readers don't all carry the latest phone, so neither should our testing.

Scores can change. If a game gets a big update that fixes a problem we flagged, we'll go back and adjust. A review is a snapshot, and sometimes the picture improves.