Every review on this platform is backed by verified playtime. No accounts created five minutes ago. No review bombs. No paid placements. Just people who actually played the game, telling you what they think.
Link your Steam or PlayStation Network account. We use official APIs to read your playtime and trophy data — we never store your password. This is the foundation of everything: your playtime is your credential.
Steam uses OpenID authentication. PSN uses an NPSSO token. Both are read-only connections. We only access playtime hours, trophy counts, and owned games — nothing else.
Search our database of 500,000+ games. Before you can write a review, we check your playtime against the game in question. No playtime? No review. It's that simple.
We cross-reference your Steam library and PSN trophy data in real time. The check happens server-side — it cannot be gamed from the frontend.
HoursIn has two review tiers based on how deep you've gone into a game. Each tier has a different playtime gate.
Your early impressions. Great for first-look takes, early access games, or games you bounced off. Clearly labeled so readers know the context.
You've seen everything the game has to offer. The most credible review type on the platform. Weighted more heavily in our scoring algorithm.
Score the game 1–10, write your take, add tags, and toggle a spoiler warning if needed. No word count minimum — a sharp two-sentence review beats a padded 2,000-word one.
Your review is permanently tied to your verified playtime at the time of submission. If you later earn a Platinum, you can upgrade your Initial Thoughts to a Full Review.
Every verified review feeds into the game's HoursIn Score — a weighted average that separates player scores from critic scores. The Score Gap tells you at a glance whether critics and players agree.
A wide Score Gap (e.g., critics 90 / players 62) means the game is divisive. We surface this prominently because it's often the most useful signal for a buyer.
Currently we verify via Steam and PSN. Xbox Game Pass, Nintendo, and GOG verification are on our roadmap. For now, you can still browse and read reviews for any platform.
Yes. You can update your review text and score at any time from your profile. Your verified playtime is locked at the time of original submission.
We pull from RAWG's database of 500,000+ games. If a game is missing, it's likely very new or very obscure. Use the search bar — if it's in RAWG, it's in HoursIn.
Full Reviews (Platinum/100%) are weighted 2x compared to Initial Thoughts (5+ hours). This means the score reflects people who finished the game more than people who tried it briefly.
The Score Gap is the difference between the critic Metacritic score and the HoursIn player score. A large gap means critics and real players disagree significantly — which is often the most useful thing to know before buying.
We store your Steam ID or PSN Account ID to look up your playtime when you submit a review. We do not store your game library, friends list, messages, or any other personal data. See our Privacy Policy for full details.
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