How we review

WP 01Which games we consider

Online games that players in the UK can download or buy today on at least one mainstream platform: online role-playing games, team and party games, co-op and competitive play. Free and paid games are judged the same way.

WP 02How the shortlist forms

Reader suggestions, games our team keeps returning to and quieter releases share one shortlist. Worlds with a clear identity and a healthy community rise to the top. No one can pay to be on it.

WP 03How we play

Each game is played for weeks, solo where that makes sense, with friends and with strangers. We try matchmaking at different times of day, open the shop, read the account and chat settings and try the newcomer experience on a fresh account. If we cannot play a game properly, we do not report on it.

WP 04What a rating weighs

• The world: what the game sets out to be and how well its places, story and art hold together.
• The feel: controls, pacing, matchmaking and how good it is to improve.
• The fairness: how the game treats your time and money, from grind and timers to passes, shops and paid random items.
• The company: friend tools, chat filters, moderation, cross-play and how welcoming it is to newcomers.

WP 05From rating to heat

One editorial rating out of five, in tenths, sets the heat shown on each report:

• Blaze (from 4.7): Among the best online worlds we have spent time in. Worth the journey.
• Flame (from 4.4): Excellent, with a caveat or two the report spells out.
• Glow (from 4.0): Very good for the right player and the right group.
• Ember (below 4.0): For fans of the genre, rough edges and all.

WP 06Rest points, accounts and costs

Every report names a rest point, a natural place to end a session; the account or membership a game needs; and what it can cost after the first purchase. We point out subscriptions, seasonal passes, expansions, premium currencies and paid random items whenever a game has them.

WP 07Bearings

The bearing of a world on our compass only reflects where it sits in the list. It is a way of finding things, never a ranking, and it is never sold.

WP 08What we never do

No paid placements, no sponsored ratings, no invented player numbers and no reports written from trailers or press releases.

WP 09Keeping reports current

Online games change every season. Links, platforms and account rules are checked regularly, and when a big update changes how a game plays, we play it again before touching its rating.