Review Score Guide

I've been asked a few times recently how I decide what our review scores mean. So I put together this page to explain.

The very first thing I look for when I read a LitRPG story is if it’s actually a LitRPG story. If it isn’t, then it automatically gets a 4 out of 10 at minimum. Anything below a 4 is a bad score and a story that claims to be LitRPG when it’s not gets a bad score. However, in the review I may note details of the story that relate to storytelling, plot, etc that I did like.

Other things I look at are the game mechanics in the story. One of the things I love the most about LitRPG are the game mechanics and I take note of when those mechanics make sense, when they're innovative, if they're applied consistently, and if they're just fun. As a general rule, if I as the reader get enough information about the game world to roll my own character, there's enough information given. 

I also look at things like plot, storytelling, character development and a bunch of other writer stuff. But mostly, I concern myself with whether or not I had a good time reading the story. All those other things are just the descriptions of why I liked a story or didn't.

For a detailed account of what I consider LitRPG, Click Here

10 out of 10: The perfect LitRPG story. I’ve never given a 10.

9 out of 10: Almost perfect. This story stands above the rest. I’ve only given three novels 9 out of 10s.

8 out of 10: A great story. It has something extra special. It could be a game mechanic or a particularly well told story. But this story has something special.

7 out of 10: A good story that I enjoyed reading. I recommend anything with a 7 and above.

6 out of 10: Something about this novel lessened my enjoyment. It could be a weird plot twist, a game mechanic that didn’t make sense, or something else. I’ll note in detail what bothered me in the review and why. However, I’ll also note if I think the novel will appeal to others.

5 out of 10 : A very meh story. Not particularly good but not bad either.

Anything below a 5 is a negative review.  I either actively did not like something about the novel or it just wasn’t LitRPG. Below this point it’s a just a matter of how much I didn’t like a story. The lower the score the more I dislike a story and in the review I try to be as specific as possible why. I’ve only given out a single 1 out of 10, for the novel that was plagiarizing a litRPG authors story.

4 out of 10:  The most common negative review score. Usually given because a story is not LitRPG when it was advertised as such. A novel can also get this score if I just didn’t like it.

3 out 10: Really didn’t like the story.

2 out of 10: Really, really didn’t like the story.

1 out of 10: Hated the story. Only a single story got this review score. It was because it was plagiarized.