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How rankings work

Rankings are recalculated every night.

  1. 1

    Every rating is weighed

    Ratings from established members count fully. Brand-new accounts count a little less until they've been around and rated a few games, and someone who gives every game the same score counts less, because that tells us nothing about which games are better.

  2. 2

    Pile-ons are damped

    If a game suddenly gets far more ratings in two days than it usually does, those ratings count for less. A real launch still shows up; a campaign to push a game up doesn't take over.

  3. 3

    Few votes, fair score

    A game with only a handful of ratings is pulled toward the average for its category until it has enough votes to stand on its own. Two 10/10s can't beat a thousand 8.5s.

  4. 4

    Head-to-head Matchups

    We ask members which of two games they've played they prefer. That fixes the fact that one person's 7 is another's 9, and gives a finer order than scores can. With enough matchups, they make up 40% of a game's score.

  5. 5

    Category rankings

    The same score, ranked within each category. A game needs enough confidence to appear, and expansions are ranked separately from base games.

  6. 6

    Difficulty from players

    Difficulty comes from members' 1–5 votes plus “which was harder?” matchups, pulled toward the category's usual difficulty until enough people have voted. A game with no votes says “Not rated yet” rather than guessing.

  7. 7

    Suggestions for you

    We combine players who rate like you with games similar to the ones you love. Every suggestion says why.