It's impossible to boil a game down to a single number without losing all the nuances of the experience, and two games with identical ratings can have vastly different qualities with little or no overlap. That's why I don't like review scores.
But review scores are still important. In-depth reviews aren't always easy to parse, so having a final score can help bring everything together and make sense of all the nuances that may or may not impact the big picture of a given game.
Plus, when you're short on time, you may not be able to read every sentence of a sprawling review. Quick-glance scores are certainly useful then!
All of that to say, I strive to end all of my board game reviews with a score—more specifically, a star rating—that summarizes the pros, cons, and little details that make a game what it is. This score isn't meant to be a replacement for the review itself! You'll need to read the full thoughts to get the full picture.
Why I Use a 5-Star Scale
Since review scores are little more than summary values, I find 100-percent systems to be impractical. There's no meaningful distinction between, say, a game scoring 74% or 76%. To most people, both are "mid-70s."
A 10-point scale with decimals is the same thing—so that system is thrown out, too. (A game that scores 7.4 is no different than 74%.) If I were to use a 10-point scale, it would be with whole numbers only. But there are biases at play that tend to skew 10-point ratings, resulting in 7 points being "average."
That's why I prefer to use a 5-point scale with half points. And since most are familiar with the 5-star format used around the world, I'll stick to that.
What the Stars Mean
- 0 Stars: Defective. A game that fundamentally doesn't work or is otherwise so deficient that I actually regret playing it.
- 1–1.5 Stars: Substandard. A game I can't recommend because it sparks zero joy, feels tedious to play, or isn't worth the effort for the experience. I would actively avoid playing this if someone suggested it.
- 2–2.5 Stars: Mediocre. A flawed, uninspired, or forgettable game that I could be convinced to play under the right conditions.
- 3–3.5 Stars: Approved. A satisfactory game that's enjoyable enough, but doesn't have anything special to set it apart from others of its kind.
- 4–4.5 Stars: Recommended. An engaging game that's greater than the sum of its parts. I would gladly suggest this over other games of its kind.
- 5 Stars: Excellent. An impressive, best-in-class game that delivers an unbeatable experience. The kind of game that won't leave my collection.
Subscribe to My Reviews
If you like my reviews and want to be notified of future reviews, you can subscribe to my free email list. As a subscriber, you'll also get notified when my monthly board game giveaways go live. To subscribe, fill out the form below: