Users > Help Topics > How does the HonestGamers review scale work?

The HonestGamers review scale has seen various evolutions over time and there's no guarantee it won't evolve again. It currently operates on a 5-star system, with half-stars permitted, which conveniently allows for a total of 10 possible scores. Translated to digits, the scale ranges from 0.5 (Absolutely Horrid) to 5.0 (Gaming Bliss). Precise descriptors don't actually matter, and the exact phrasing is up to individual authors and probably the phase of the moon, as well. The basic idea that never changes, however, is this: writers should feel comfortable using the whole scale. A game at the very bottom end has no redeeming qualities. A game at the very high end should be so uncommonly good that you might swear it was a unicorn. A lot of games of an average sort should fall somewhere near the middle, and no number on the scale is off-limits.

We believe that review scores are useful for about half of a quick glance. The text is where you learn most of what a critic had to say. It's where that all-important nuance enters the picture. While we take our scores seriously and sometimes spend way too much time deciding whether a game deserves a 3 or a 3.5, for example, we hope you'll take the time to read all the stuff we write that comes ahead of that imprecise final determination. Thank you ever so much!

Return to the Help Topics index
Contact site staff
Return to the site's main page

User Help | Contact | Ethics | Sponsor Guide | Links