The five categories
Every review surfaces the same five 0–10 scores plus a weighted overall. Numbers are anchored: a 7 in one review means the same thing as a 7 in another.
PvP
Quality and variety of player-vs-player content — kingdom vs kingdom, battlefield events, arena modes. We weight skill expression over raw power gaps.
PvE
Campaigns, expeditions, events, co-op bosses, solo puzzles. Does the game respect a player who doesn't want to dunk on strangers?
F2P Friendly
How far a dedicated free player can reach before hitting a hard wall. 9–10 means genuinely competitive in end-game alliances; 2–3 means f2p is essentially a tutorial tier.
Grind
Inverse of the "daily tax". 10 = no time-gate tyranny; 1 = you feel punished for missing a day. Higher is always better.
Community
Alliance culture, in-game toxicity, publisher communication, moderation. Bad communities tank long-term retention faster than any balance problem.
Overall
Not a raw average. We weight what the game is trying to be — a hardcore 4X shouldn't be penalized for lacking a casual auto-battler mode. Monetization fairness, longevity, onboarding and complexity all factor in here without cluttering the main display.
What we don't do
- No affiliate bias. When referral links exist, they're disclosed and don't affect scores.
- No review-bombing. A bad launch doesn't freeze a score — we revisit after meaningful patches.