How a game actually earns its rating on Pocket Lap

People sometimes ask how we land on a number like 4.6. Honestly, the score comes last. First someone plays the game across several sessions and takes rough notes on controls, pacing, and whether they still want to open it on day three.

We talk it out as a team before publishing. If one editor loved something and another bounced off it, that disagreement usually makes the review better because we have to explain what specifically clicked or didn't.

We don't grade every genre the same way. A two-minute arcade game and a forty-hour RPG have different jobs, so we judge each against what it's trying to be. A short game done perfectly can outscore an ambitious one that fumbles.

The rating is a shortcut, not the point. The words around it carry the real information, so we hope you read past the number.

And no — a studio can't pay to nudge that number. If we ever change how this works, we'll say so plainly.