01Which games we cover
Games drawn in pixel art, old and new, that players in the UK can start today on a mainstream computer, console, tablet or phone. We favour games you buy once, and we name every add-on plainly. We leave out games that sell paid random items or contain games of chance, even for in-game currency.
02How we play them
Across many evenings, on more than one platform where we can: the opening hours and the ending, with and without assist settings, alone and, where the game allows it, with friends. We read every store page, try the accessibility and family settings and time ordinary sessions before we write a word.
03What a score weighs
- The play: controls, level design and how good a minute of it feels.
- The world: pixel art, music, writing and how much the world rewards a look around.
- The welcome: assist and comfort settings, a fair difficulty curve and readable screens.
- The save point: frequent saves, a clear place to stop and how hard the game pulls you into one more go.
04Hearts and bands
One editorial score out of five, in tenths, shown as five pixel hearts filled to the score. The number also sets a band:
- Castle classic (from 4.6): A game we would hand to anyone who likes its kind of game.
- Crown room (from 4.4): Excellent, with a fault or two the review names plainly.
- Good company (from 4.0): Very good for the right player; the review says who.
- Side passage (below 4.0): Uneven, but worth a look if its idea appeals.
05Pace
Pace describes how a game feels to play, never how good it is:
- Gentle: a relaxed game with room to breathe.
- Puzzling: secrets, maps and careful thinking.
- Twitchy: fast reflexes and quick retries.
06Visits, floors and save points
A visit is the typical session we timed: a chapter, a run, a stretch of the map or a building project, from pressing start to saving and quitting. It sets the floor a room sits on in the keep:
- Turret: short visits, under half an hour.
- Gallery: visits of half an hour to an hour.
- Great hall: long visits, over an hour.
The save point is where the game keeps your progress. None of these changes a score; all of them help plan an evening, and tonight’s route puts a 10-minute save room between two games.
07Break calls
Light the torches on the home page follows common advice: rest your eyes every 20 minutes, drink every half hour and get up and stretch every 45. It runs only in your open tab.
08Comfort notes
Small pixel text on a handheld, flashing effects, screen shake and long stretches without a save all matter. Each review lists the assist and comfort settings we found useful. Always read a game’s own health and safety notes too, especially about flashing lights.
09Where the facts come from
Platforms, player counts, online features, accounts, prices and age labels come from our own play and are checked against each game’s official site, the Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, App Store and Google Play listings in the UK, and the PEGI database, which remain the reference for current prices and labels.
10What we never do
No paid placements, no sponsored scores, no invented facts and no reviews written from trailers or press releases.