How My Rankings Work

I look at every game in three different ways: personal rank, score, and tier.

Those numbers and letters do not always match... and honestly, I do not think they should. My favorite game is not automatically the best-designed game I have played, and a game I respect is not always one I want to play again tomorrow.

Personal Rank

My Favorites List

This is where the game sits in my personal ranking of everything I have played.

This one is mostly about me. It comes down to what I enjoy, the memories I have with a game, how often I want to play it again, and those little moments that stick in my head afterward.
It is easily the most personal and emotional of the three.

Question I'm asking How much does this game stick with me?

Score

My Overall Experience

This is my score out of 10.

I am trying to roll my entire experience into one number: how much fun I had, the problems I ran into, replayability, value, and how well the game worked for me personally.
This is usually where I get the pickiest. Giving something a number forces me to weigh the good against the bad and make distinctions I might otherwise ignore.
A score will often line up with the game's tier, but not always. I can think a game is brilliantly designed without everything about the experience working for me.

Question I'm asking How good was my overall experience with this game?

Tier

How Strong I Think the Game Is

The tier is my attempt to step outside my own taste a little bit and look at how well the game does what it is trying to do.

I look at the design, execution, originality, value, and whether the whole thing actually comes together.
A game can be S-Tier even if it is not really for me. I can respect the heck out of a game without personally loving it.
I would not call this completely objective because it is still me making the list... but it is the closest of the three.

Question I'm asking How good is this game at what it does?

Why They Can Be Different

Because I am asking three different questions, I sometimes get three different answers.

EXAMPLE GAME

Slay the Spire

PERSONAL RANK

I love it, but another game might mean more to me or be something I reach for more often.

SCORE

9.5/10

Nearly everything about the experience worked for me.

TIER

It is an excellent design and incredibly good at what it sets out to do.

A game can score 9.5/10, land in S-Tier, and still not be my number-one game. Nothing is broken there. It just means another game hit me a little harder.

HONEST NOTE

I second-guess this stuff constantly.

Ranks, scores, and tiers are my best attempt to explain how I feel about a game at a particular point in time. They are not permanent, and they definitely are not math. They can change after more plays, after playing something similar, or after I realize I was being too harsh or way too generous.

Heck, sometimes I am not even SURE about a score when I give it.

Hopefully these rankings are useful, entertaining, or at least give you some idea of how my brain works.

And if you disagree? Perfect. That is what the stickers are for ➧

At a Glance

Personal Rank
Where the game sits among my personal favorites.

Score
How good my overall experience with the game was.

Tier
How strong I think the game is at what it sets out to do.

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Examples From My Collection

S-TIER, OUTSIDE TOP 10

Spirit Island solo

RANK #13

SCORE

7.5

TIER

Amazing design, but parts of the experience keep it from scoring as highly for me.

TOP 5, LOWER SCORE

Metroid

RANK #3

SCORE

7.5

TIER

The memories carry it high. The score reflects how the overall game holds up for me now.

HIGH SCORE, NOT #1

Brotato

RANK #7

SCORE

9.0

TIER

A fantastic overall experience. Another game still sticks with me more.

Score & Tier Breakdown

Tier Scale

S S: Masterpiece
A A: Outstanding
B B: Special and memorable
C C: Good
D D: Average
F F: Poor

Score Scale

10.0 Hall of Fame: Sets a new bar. Rare.
9.0 Outstanding: Special and memorable.
8.0 Great: Strongly enjoyable.
7.0 Good: Enjoyable experience.
6.0 Decent: Worth playing.
5.0 Average: Mixed feelings.
4.0 Below Average: Some issues.
3.0 Poor: Notable problems.
2.0 Bad: Major flaws.
1.0 Unplayable: Avoid outright.

BOTTOM LINE

These three rankings work together to give you the full picture. My heart, my head, and my honest recommendation.

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Video Game Rankings → Board Game Rankings → Browse Full Catalog →

Why They Can Be Different

At a Glance

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Examples From My Collection

Score & Tier Breakdown

Tier Scale

Score Scale

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