C.1Which quests join the deck
Adventure, action and role-playing games that players in the UK can start today on at least one mainstream console, computer or phone. We mix gentle journeys with hard-fought ones, games for one with games for two, and we favour games you buy once and that sell nothing once you are playing.
C.2How we play them
To the credits wherever we can, over many evenings. We look through any shop and expansion, try the chat and report tools, set up the family controls, check comfort and accessibility settings and time ordinary sittings before we write a word.
C.3What a score weighs
- Play: controls, challenge, fairness and how it feels to get better.
- World: art, sound, writing and whether the place is worth an evening.
- Story: characters, pacing and whether the quest earns its ending.
- Stopping: clear save points, sensible sittings and how hard the game pulls you back.
C.4Score, pips and borders
One editorial score out of five, in tenths, printed in the gem at the foot of each card with five diamond pips: whole points fill whole pips and the last fills by the fraction. The score also sets the border:
- Gold border (from 4.6): One of the finest adventures we have played: a card worth building an evening around.
- Silver border (from 4.3): Excellent, with one or two rough edges the review spells out.
- Bronze border (from 4.0): Very good for the right player; the review says who that is.
- Iron border (below 4.0): Uneven in places, but worth a quest if the genre is yours.
C.5Pace keywords
Pace describes how a game feels to play, never how good it is:
- Unhurried: nothing chases you, and you can stop and look around.
- Tactical: it asks you to plan several moves ahead and rewards patience.
- Quick: fast reactions and plenty happening at once.
C.6Crystals and the end of turn
A card’s cost is the typical sitting we timed, in crystals of 15 minutes, rounded up. The end of turn is the natural moment to stop, usually where the game saves. Neither changes a score; both help plan an evening.
C.7Rest cards and breaks
Tonight’s hand lays a 10-minute rest card between two games and a short break every 30 minutes inside a long one: stand up, look into the distance, drink some water.
C.8Comfort notes
Flashing light, camera motion, volume, hand strain and long sittings matter in every genre. Each review notes what we found and which settings help. Always read a game’s own health and safety warnings as well.
C.9Where the facts come from
Platforms, chat options, accounts, expansions and costs come from our own play and are checked against each game’s official pages, which remain the reference for prices and age ratings.
C.10What we never do
No paid placements, no sponsored scores, no invented facts and no reviews written from trailers or press releases.