Our Review Policy

The staff here at Indie Game Insider values integrity, honesty and carefully constructed criticism when reviewing games. When you read a review of a game at our publication, you can be sure that it's a fair, unbiased assessment of the game's overall worth or value to you, the gamer. While each writer here at Indie Game Insider has his or her own tastes, preferences, and subjective viewpoints, our reviews are crafted to best reflect not only the writer's personal opinion but the site as a whole, and as such, each review represents Indie Game Insider's analysis of the game in question. A game may be scored differently depending on the writer assigned, but we strive to provide the most accurate representation of any game's quality by assigning specific games and genres to those most experienced to write fairly and accurately about them. Indie Game Insider does not currently, nor will it ever, accept compensation of any form from developers for its reviews.

We score games on a 100-point scale, at 0.1 increments, from 0 to 10. Scores are placed at the bottom of a review's text and are comprised of a number that best represents the writer's honest opinion of the game in question and a small excerpt of text that gives a short synopsis of the writer's opinion. Our scale is as follows:

10 - Masterpiece This is the highest recommendation we can give. While no game is perfect, this is as close as it gets. Its accomplishments far outweigh any flaws it has and, as a result, is unadulterated nirvana. A game that receives this score breaks new ground in the indie field, and absolutely must be experienced.

9.0-9.9 - Incredible Though a few problems hold it back from masterpiece status, a game with this score still has plenty new and interesting things to offer gamers and demands to be experienced. It is expected that games with this score would be enjoyed by nearly anyone who plays them.

8.0-8.9 - Great There may be better games out there, but there are certainly worse ones as well. Great games successfully execute well-established mechanics and concepts-and maybe even do other things exceptionally well-but noticeable issues mar the overall experience.

7.0-7.9 - Good A game with this rank can be recommended to most fans of its genre, and it may even recruit new fans, but pressing issues persist. Flaws such as technical issues, repetitive sections, or boring mechanics keep it from greatness, but we still think it's worth your attention.

6.0-6.9 - Solid A Solid game has a functional idea and mechanics that some can appreciate, but most can't be bothered when so many other games do the same thing better. It may bring something new to the table, but not in any exceptional way.

5.0-5.9 - Average For everything a game in this tier does right, it does something equally wrong. There is probably nothing about a game in this category that you haven't seen done better a dozen times before.

4.0-4.9 - Rough Games in this category fall short of mediocrity. While the basic idea of a coherent game is there, the final product suffers from too many flaws and inconsistencies to be appreciated by many.

3.0-3.9 - Inferior This game is simply bad and has far too many issues to be recommended to anyone besides those of a very niche audience. Awful execution and poorly formed ideas and mechanics bog games like this down into experiences best forgotten.

2.0-2.9 - Terrible A game with a score of Terrible is plagued with consistent and painful problems that make it near impossible to recommend to anyone. Games like these are laughably bad, and it's hard to imagine how they were released in their current state.

1.0-1.9 - Atrocious Only the bravest of men and stoutest of heart will be able to make their way through a title with this abysmal score. This is a game so bad that those courageous enough to play is should be compensated for their troubles. Approach with extreme caution.

0-0.9 - Disaster The game simply does not function and is basically unplayable. It's so unbearable, it may warrant being cancelled after release (see: Ashes Cricket 2013).