How we mark
Four criteria, fixed weights
Every game is marked the same way, by the same people, after the same minimum time. The number on a table card is a weighted average, not a feeling.
The three-week rule
Two of us play each game on fresh, free accounts on a normal live world for at least three weeks, visiting the way a working adult would: a few short sessions a day. Where a game runs in rounds, we play far enough into a round to see the protection end and the alliances form. The third reader does not play; they check the notes against each other and against the game’s own documentation.
The criteria
| Criterion | Weight | The question we answer |
|---|---|---|
| Time | 35% | Does a ten-minute visit move you forward? Are timers pacing or pressure? Does a night’s sleep cost you? |
| Fairness | 30% | How far does a free player get, and does paying buy convenience or victory? Are prices shown plainly? |
| Depth | 20% | Is there still something to learn in week three? Do alliances, diplomacy and competition create real play with other people? |
| Polish | 15% | Does it load fast, run in the four major browsers and stay readable on a laptop screen? Is the interface honest about what it is doing? |
Each criterion is marked out of ten independently by both players. The mark is the weighted average rounded to one decimal. Bands are shorthand: a Reserved table is 8.0 or above, the Members’ bar is 7.5 to 7.9, a Day pass is 7.0 to 7.4. Anything below 7.0 is not published.
The paid week
After the free period one of us spends a fixed amount — roughly the price of a cinema ticket where we live — the way a typical player would, and records what it bought and how far it moved the account. That week feeds the fairness mark. We do not print prices, because they change by region and by sale.
A visit, visits, risk, pace
The small facts on each card are ours. A visit is how long a useful check-in took us by week two. Visits is how many a day kept the account moving without waste. Risk is what another player can take from you: Nothing to lose, Something to lose or Everything to lose. Pace is how the demand on your time changes across a round.
Re-tests and removals
Tables are re-tested when a game changes its shop, ships a major update or when readers report something material. A table is cleared if a game breaks an entry rule, drops below 7.0 or its community shrinks to the point where the multiplayer stops working. Changes are dated on the card.
Independence
Affiliate links carry the sponsored attribute and are added after a mark is locked. Publishers have no editorial input. If you think a card has something wrong, tell us and we will look again.