How we review

Which games we consider

Any game that players in the UK can buy or download today on at least one mainstream platform. New releases and older favourites are judged in the same way.

How the shortlist forms

Reader suggestions, games we keep recommending to friends and smaller independent releases share one shortlist. Games with a clear idea and a distinct identity rise to the top. No one can pay to be on it.

How we play

At least one of us plays each game to the credits where it has them, or long enough to understand its whole shape where it does not. Online and co-op games are played with friends and with strangers. If we cannot play a game properly, we do not score it.

What the score weighs

• The idea: what the game sets out to do and how firmly it holds on to it.
• The feel: controls, pacing, difficulty and how good it is to improve.
• The craft: art, sound, performance and stability.
• The welcome: difficulty options, subtitles, remapping, comfort settings and how easy it is for someone new to start.

From score to glow

One editorial score out of five, in tenths, sets how brightly a lantern burns:

• Burns all night (from 4.8): One of the best games we have played. Clear an evening for it.
• Bright and steady (from 4.5): Excellent, with a small caveat or two.
• A warm glow (from 4.0): Very good for the right player; the review says who.
• A candle for fans (below 4.0): Worth it if the genre is already your thing.

A game that would score lower than that is simply left off the string.

Time and money, always

Every review ends with a natural place to stop and a line on what a game can cost after the first purchase. We point out streaks, daily rewards, season passes and paid extras whenever a game uses them.

The Lanternkeeper's suggestions

The answers on the home page filter only two facts we record for each game: the usual shape of a session (short, one long evening or best with friends) and its mood. They never change a score.

What we never do

No paid placements, no sponsored scores, no invented player numbers and no reviews written from trailers or press releases.

Keeping reviews current

Links and platforms are checked regularly. When a big update changes how a game plays, we play it again before touching its score.