How we actually review a mobile game

People ask how we decide what to cover and how long we play, so here's the honest version. It's less scientific than you'd think and more about putting in real time.

First, someone installs the game and plays it properly — usually a few days, sometimes longer for bigger titles. We take notes as we go, including the dumb little annoyances that add up.

Then we talk it over. If two of us disagree, that usually makes for a better, more balanced writeup. We'd rather admit a game is divisive than pretend there's one right answer.

Finally we write it like we'd describe it to a friend. No store-page buzzwords, no inflated scores. If we were bored, we say we were bored.