Every score.
A reason.
Five dimensions answer one question: why is this Roguelike worth another run?
Core gameplay25%
The fun, feedback and pacing of actions or turn-based decisions. The same standard applies to action and strategy games.
Builds & strategy25%
How resources and routes create trade-offs, and how choices work together. Item count is not a substitute for strategic depth.
Replayability20%
Whether different situations call for new responses. Hours played and repetitive work are not substitutes for replayability.
Randomness & fairness20%
Can you judge risk, learn from failure and overcome bad luck through strategy? Difficulty alone does not reduce the score.
Polish & usability10%
Stability, performance, clarity and ease of control. Production budget and graphical complexity do not determine polish.
From five scores to a rank.
Each dimension is scored from 0 to 10 in 0.5 steps. The weights above produce a score out of 100, rounded to one decimal place only at the end. All five scores need reasons and sources before a game is ranked.
Displayed scores determine descending order. Equal scores share competition ranks (1, 2, 2, 4); names and unique keys provide stable tie ordering. The home page shows up to ten games from the full list. Pending reviews and drafts are not treated as zero scores.
Scores are opinions. Evidence should be open.
Initial scores are AI assessments of public material, not hands-on playtests. Each game page lists the review date, version, five reasons, sources and limitations. Earlier reviews are retained; the latest published review is used.
Steam approval rates, media scores and PepperHead’s opinions are separate references. They do not enter our score. Original material stays in the game archive; older tiers are not converted into ranks.
See the rankings with the rubric in mind