How we actually test a game

People sometimes ask how a review comes together, so here's the honest version. It's less glamorous than you'd think and involves a lot of charging cables.

We start by playing on at least two phones, one newer and one a few years old. That gap tells us whether a game stays smooth on hardware most people actually own, not just the latest flagship.

We track heat and battery during longer sessions, usually with the phone off the charger so the numbers mean something. We also note how the game behaves when a call or notification interrupts it, since that happens constantly in real life.

Then it's just time. We try to put in at least a week before writing, because the first hour of almost any game lies to you. The grind, the repetition, and the genuine high points all show up later.

Finally, the editor pokes holes in the draft. If we can't explain why we liked or disliked something, it doesn't make the cut. We'd rather be clear than clever.