… of the Month: Replay Value

The Truth Behind the Score of the Month: Replay Value

All right dudes, GUT CHECK TIME.

First question: What does that mean? What the hell did I just say? I don’t know, but it sure sounds manly. Second question: What do ya’ll mean when you give games high scores for “replay value”?

I’ve written a lot of reviews in my day, and I’ve wondered from time to time about exactly what it means to give a certain score in a certain category. For the purpose of this article, though, I’m only wondering about replay value. When I give a game a high score for replayability, that obviously means I’d want to play the game again. However, I’ve not actually replayed all of the games I’ve given high replay value scores to. So what gives? Am I doing it wrong?

When I review a game, it’s usually after playing it once. I don’t have the time to play a game multiple times before reviewing it, so that means I pretty much have to score its replay value before replaying it, right? So then how do I really know I’m giving it the correct score? What if I give Game A a 7 in replayability, because I’m absolutely loving it and can’t wait to replay it, but I never end up playing it again? On the other hand, what if I give Game B a 4, but then I end up playing it over again twice or thrice later down the road? Was I wrong when I originally scored the games?

So what do you guys think? Particularly other reviewers. What should be considered when rating a game’s replay value, assuming you can’t actually play it multiple times before reviewing it? Post your thoughts, devoted readers! Let’s get a real conversation going! Ready? Go!