How Castlespree reviews are made

No scores. A number would insist that a pirate MMO and a hidden-object town share a scale, and the answers are far more useful than a figure would be.

Weeks on the clock

A fortnight of real sessions before writing, and longer for slow-clock games where a first evening tells you nothing.

Free accounts throughout, because a road that runs out on day ten is exactly what a long log is for.

Castlespree: The four questions

What the loop actually is. What this game does that its neighbours do not. How long one honest session takes. What hardware it wants before it stops being enjoyable.

• It opens in a browser with no download.
• Nothing essential sits behind a payment.
• Servers are populated during UK evenings.
• It does not duplicate another entry on the list.

Three ways to lose a slot at Castlespree

A timer that exists only to sell its own removal. A shop that hides the real price until after the click. An event calendar that makes a newcomer's first week worse.