01Which games we cover
Role-playing games that players in the UK can start today on at least one mainstream computer, console or phone: open-world adventures, turn-based and tactical RPGs, action RPGs and story-led fantasy. We favour games you pay for once and that sell little or nothing once you are playing, and we say plainly when a game has expansions.
02How we play them
Across many evenings and, where we can, to the end of the main story: first on the default difficulty, then with the assists and easier settings. We play online features where a game has them, look through every store page and expansion, set up the family controls, test comfort and accessibility settings and time ordinary sittings before we write a word.
03What a score weighs
- World: how rich, coherent and surprising it is, and how it looks and sounds.
- Tale: story, characters and quests that reward attention.
- Craft: combat or tactics, controls, menus, difficulty options and accessibility.
- Rest: clear save points, sensible sittings and how hard the game pulls you back.
04Embers and tiers
One editorial score out of five, in tenths, shown as five embers: whole points light whole embers and the last glows by the fraction. The score also sets a tier:
- Mythic (from 4.6): A journey we would carry anywhere: one of the finest RPGs we have played.
- Heroic (from 4.4): Excellent, with a flaw or two that the chronicle names plainly.
- Steadfast (from 4.0): Very good for the right traveller; the chronicle says who that is.
- Wayward (below 4.0): Uneven, but worth the road if its world calls to you.
05Pace
Pace describes how a world feels to play, never how good it is:
- Wandering: exploring and talking at your own speed: you can stop at almost any moment.
- Tactical: planning, menus and party building matter more than quick hands.
- Battle: real-time fights that ask for timing and quick reactions.
06Sitting and the rest point
Sitting is the typical session we timed, from loading in to a sensible place to stop. The rest point is where the game keeps your progress cleanly: a campfire, an inn, a statue or the end of a chapter. Neither changes a score; both help plan an evening, and tonight’s lamp puts a 10-minute rest by the beacon between two worlds.
07Breaks and the watch
The watch follows common advice: rest your eyes every 20 minutes, drink every half hour and stand up about every 50. It runs only in your open tab.
08Comfort notes
Flashing light, camera motion, volume, tension and long sittings all matter. Each chronicle lists the assists we found useful. Always read a game’s own health and safety warnings too.
09Where the facts come from
Platforms, player counts, online features, accounts, expansions and age labels come from our own play and are checked against each game’s official site, store listings and the PEGI database, which remain the reference for current prices and ratings.
10What we never do
No paid placements, no sponsored scores, no invented facts and no reviews written from trailers or press releases.