Q&A
Frequently asked questions about True Game Metrics, our scoring methodology, data operations, and access portals.
Method & Philosophy
Think of us like an Olympic diving panel for video games. Traditional reviews mix a game's hype, story, and performance into one messy, subjective score. We separate them. We look at two distinct things: how ambitious and difficult a game was to make, and how smoothly the final product actually runs. This keeps the playing field fair for massive blockbusters and polished indie games alike.
- Degree of Difficulty (DD): This measures a game’s pure ambition before anyone even picks up a controller. We look at 8 core pillars (such as scale, graphics complexity, multiplayer networking, and story depth) to score how hard the game was to build.
- Game Execution (GE): This is the actual player experience. How is the frame rate? Are there constant bugs? Do the controls feel responsive? It’s a pure measure of polish.
Just like in diving, we multiply the two scores together:
This math completely stops review inflation. A massive, incredibly complex 100-hour simulation that has a few minor launch bugs can score just as fairly as a tiny, flawlessly polished 2-hour puzzle game. Ambition is rewarded, but laziness isn’t hidden.
Beating the Review Bombs
Instead of taking a lazy mathematical average that gets ruined by angry trolls leaving 0s or fanboys leaving 10s, we use The 7-Judge Panel system. For every game, we sort all the user scores, throw out the highest extremes and the lowest extremes, and only calculate the middle ground. The result is a clean, honest score that cuts right through the internet noise.
- TGM Estimate: An initial analytical baseline score published prior to official studio registration.
- Provisional: The game is live and actively gathering community scores, but has fewer than 100 reviews. The score will shift around as more players weigh in.
- Official Certified Rating: The gold standard. This badge locks in once a game hits 100+ community reviews and the game's studio registers its official 8-Pillar Dive Sheet or completes the calibration survey.
Plans & Advanced Data
Verified game developers participate in the Developer Calibration Survey to weight component difficulty across all 8 Core Pillars, and publishers register their titles via the For Publishers portal to declare their official 8-Pillar Dive Sheet. By identifying the exact components used from the primary source, the system calculates an Official Certified Rating.
Anyone can check out our global leaderboards and game profiles completely for free. If you want to dig deeper into the graphs, our paid Analyst and Pro tiers let you view The 7-Judge Panel distributions and use the Data Lounge comparison engine to stack games up side-by-side on our Join page. The raw Data Matrix (CSV and JSON) and Statistician Tools are available on the Statistician tier.
Not at all. While we use real engineering concepts, TGM is built for everyone. Whether you are a game director analyzing engine polish or a casual player who is just tired of review-bombing and wants to know if a game runs smoothly before buying it, you belong here.
Humanizing the "8 Pillars"
| The Core Pillar | What It Measures |
|---|---|
| World Scale & Logic | The physical size of the map, AI complexity, and loading barriers. |
| Post-Launch Scope | How much the game changes over time via patches, seasons, and expansions. |
| Graphics Engine Complexity | Ray-tracing, visual fidelity, asset density, and rendering strain. |
| Story & Choice Depth | Branching dialogue trees, dynamic cutscenes, and quest tracking. |
| Interface & Accessibility | How clean the menus are and the depth of custom control options. |
| Sound & Music Design | 3D audio, dynamic music shifts, voice acting, and sound mixing. |
| Innovation | Building entirely fresh mechanics versus copying established code. |
| Multiplayer Architecture | Server tick rates, lobby sizes, and keeping fast-paced action synced online. |
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