Before attempting to write a review for ArmchairGeneral.com, please read several of our current reviews to get a feel for style, format and content.
The purpose of any review should be to give gamers enough information to make intelligent buying decisions about whether or not a game is right for them. Every game has players who love it and players who hate it. Keeping that in mind, here is what a review for ArmchairGeneral.com should include.
Title. Publisher. Boardgame or PC game. Designer if known. Suggested Retail Price (not the discounted one on Amazon; if you give the download price, also include the boxed-version price if different).
Passed Inspection: Best features.
Failed Basic: Worst/Most annoying features or limitations.
EXAMPLE OF HOW A REVIEW SHOULD BE FORMATTED:
Combat Mission Shock Force: British Forces. 
PC Game. Developed & Published by Battlefront.com. $25.00 download (hardcopy add S&H)
Passed Inspection: Amazingly detailed and playable expansion to the Combat Mission: Shock Force line of games. Campaign is very challenging. High replay value.
Failed Basic: Limited control over unit choices in quick battles. Fuzzy objectives.
Introductory paragraph that gives readers some idea of your overall impression of the game.
Summary of component parts (board games only).
Summary of play (how combat works, any mechanics unique to the system and those that are similar to other games)
Summary of best features.
Summary of worst features
As noted in summary of play section, a comparison to one or two other games, where applicable, helps. A given mechanic might be similar to Game X, while the overall feel of the game is like that of Game Z, for example.
Close with a summary of your opinion and what type of gamer this product would most appeal to (i.e., fans of real-time strategy, gamers looking for historical depth over playability, gamers looking for an easy-to-learn, quick-playing game, etc.)
If you find the game is unplayable or just really bad, let ACG.com‘s editor know BEFORE writing the review. We’ll ignore the game instead of reviewing it.
FORMAT:
Word doc preferred
Approximately 1,000 – 1,200 words
Do not indent; double space between paragraphs (Hit the Return key twice; Word’s auto-spacing between paragraphs is stripped out when loaded for publication on ACG’s site.)
At end of review (for PC games only), add Armchair General Rating, on a scale of 0 – 100. The score should be a general consensus of the reviewer’s overall opinion of the game. The final score should also reflect the content of a review. A game that receives a numerical score of 91% should not be inundated with complaints about various features. Generally, editors will not question the score of a game but be prepared to defend your decision if an obvious discrepancy exists. Generally speaking, anything below 70% is probably not worth reviewing; certainly, that is true for anything below 60%; 70 – 79% is good, but better options probably exist; 80 – 89% is an excellent example of its genre; 90 – 100% is the rare, exceptional game that sets standards other games should aspire to.
At end of review (for board games only), provide a Solitaire Suitability rating on a 1–10 scale, with 1 being a game designed specifically as a solitaire game and 10 being virtually impossible to play solitaire.
Close with a short bio that gives an idea of your qualifications to review games. See examples used by current reviewers.
Photographs/Screenshots:
No captions will be used on these, so you do not need to provide any. Naming each according to what it represents is helpful for editors however; e.g., us-antitank-defenses-bastogne. (all lower case, separate words with hyphens)
Board game: Supply 6 or more photographs to give readers an idea of the component parts. If you have the ability to scan the counters before punching them out, please do so and include them with the photos.
PC game: Supply 6 – 12 screenshots to give readers an idea of the graphics and/or information screens they can expect to use in gameplay.
With any game review, a shot of the cover is helpful IF it is a straight-ahead shot of the front of the box like those you see in our other reviews. Otherwise, we’ll ask the manufacturer for a cover shot.
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