How we actually test a game before writing about it

People sometimes ask how long we play a game before reviewing it. The honest answer is: until we've seen what it becomes, not just what it shows you up front.

For a strategy or tower defence game that usually means finishing the main campaign and poking at the hardest difficulty. A lot of games only reveal their flaws when the training wheels come off.

We test on real phones, mid-range ones included, because a game that runs beautifully on a flagship but stutters elsewhere isn't the same recommendation. Battery drain and heat count too.

We also leave games alone for a few days and come back. If I'm genuinely drawn back to it, that tells me more than any single session ever could.

It's slower than cranking out quick takes, but it's the only way I'd trust our own reviews.