How We Review Games

Every review on Top Desktop Games goes through the same steps. Here's what they are, and how we arrive at the score.

  • Money never changes a score Affiliate links have no effect on scores.
  • No paid reviews Publishers can't pay for a review or a score.
  • Updated as games change Every review shows its date, and any update.

The life of a review

  1. Step 1 Research Official pages, store listings, patch notes, critic and player reviews.
  2. Step 2 Fact check Platforms, dates, prices and features checked against current sources.
  3. Step 3 Signed off A person approves every review and score before it's published in English.
  4. Step 4 Published Live with its score, pros and cons and FAQs.
  5. Step 5 Revisited Games change, so we come back and update the review.

Anatomy of a review

Reviews follow the same layout, so you always know where to look.

  • The game at a glance
  • Toby's take
  • The score and our verdict
  • Pros and cons at a glance
  • What the game is and who it's for
  • The gameplay loop: what you actually do
  • Whether it's pay to win, and what's free
  • How progression works over time
  • Whether it's worth playing
  • Answers to common questions
  • Similar games to try next

How scores work

Scores run from 1 to 5. They come from our scoring algorithm, which weighs a range of data points about each game, and a person checks every score before a review is published.

Our average: 4.2

  1. 5.0 to 4.5 Excellent One of the best free games in its genre. Easy to recommend to almost anyone.
  2. 4.4 to 4.0 Great Easy to recommend, with a few small catches.
  3. 3.9 to 3.5 Good Worth a try if the genre is your thing.
  4. 3.4 to 3.0 Average Fine for a while, but it has real weaknesses.
  5. 2.9 to 2.0 Below Average Hard to recommend. There are better free games like it.
  6. 1.9 to 1.0 Poor Skip it.

Money never changes a score

Money doesn't buy a score here. Not even a little.

Some "Play" buttons on our site are affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission when you sign up. Whether we earn from a game has no effect on its score or its review, and we never accept payment from game publishers for reviews or scores. Read our affiliate disclosure.

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FAQ

Common questions

No. We never accept payment from game publishers for reviews or scores.