How we test whether a game really works offline

'Offline' is a word studios use loosely, so we don't take it on faith. Before any game reaches this site, someone turns on airplane mode and tries to play it from a cold start.

We check the whole loop: does it open, does it save, does progress survive a restart, and does any core feature quietly demand a connection. A surprising number of 'offline' games fail one of these.

We also test on an older phone, because a game that only runs on the newest hardware isn't much use to most readers. Storage size and battery drain go into the notes too.

Only after all that do we sit down and actually judge the game on fun. The offline check is the gate; the review is the reward.