Change, for some, it’s as good as a holiday; others fear it, while the more stoically minded great the ever-shifting world with a ‘meh’ and a shoulder shrug. Whatever the case, Bigwinboard has overhauled the scoring system used when reviewing games. It’s quite a shift, so let’s take a look at the new implementation and the rationale behind it.

Since its inception, Bigwinboard has used a 100-point scoring system to rate the games we review. Doing so has provided a useful grading scale to differentiate one release from another. Instantly, readers get an idea of how the game in question rates and how it ranks alongside its contemporaries. A 100-point system provides reviewers with plenty of space to reflect a game’s subtleties, and for the record, Bigwinboard was one of the first casino game review sites, if not the first, to provide a numerical value when reviewing slots – a practice which has since been copied by its competitors numerous times.

So what has changed? Bigwinboard has moved from the 100-point system to a 20-point one. This means online slots will be strictly rated in either whole or half numbers. For example, an 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5 and so on. Gone are the 5.2s or the 7.6s of the past that used to round off a review. It was not an easy decision to make, but one which we think will add clarity to our reviews and better pass messages on to our readers. The new rating values are reflected like so:

10 – Essential
9/9.5 – Superb
8/8.5 – Great
7/7.5 – Good
6/6.5 – Fair
5/5.5 – Mediocre
4/4.5 – Poor
3/3.5 – Bad
2/2.5 – Terrible
1/1.5 – Abysmal

The shift was prompted for a variety of reasons. Over the past few years, online slots have blossomed into a hugely diverse space, offering a myriad of gaming types, setups, genres, features, graphics, sounds while catering for diverse players with a range of volatility appetites. Awarding scores on such a granular level means that sometimes a game’s numerical verdict might end up misconstruing parts of the reviews’ message.

Art criticism, whether you’re talking about video games or online slots, isn’t a science.

Assessing any creative piece of work is tough. There is so much about art, movies, books, games, and slots that cannot easily be categorized by numbers. While some things like RTP are clearer cut, others are far more nuanced. For example, an online slot with a billion ways to win over sixty reels and a million times the bet max win might be a bore to play. On the flip side, a standard 5×3, 20 payline jobbie might be the absolute bees’ knees and garner a much higher rating.

In short, it is much harder, if not impossible, to precisely quantify enjoyment levels than measure, let’s say, height, speed, or weight. Slots are designed (hopefully) to be an enjoyable experience and create an emotional response in those playing them. When reviewing a game, each element makes a contribution or a detraction, and the components as a whole have an impact. Some things may work, while others miss the mark. Trying to summarize all of that into a number is tricky because it’s not like there is a set objective scale to measure things by. No concrete checklist to run through, where games gain a point here for having ‘x’ or losing a point there for not having ‘y’. Therefore, because scores are not objective math-based values, they’re a summation of numerous factors, and using a 100-point scale might miscommunicate the impression we are trying to convey.

“10/10 – Bigwinboard” is iconic and instantly recognizable part of our brand for hundreds of thousands of people.

Another point is how meaningful a 100-point scoring system is at differentiating between two closely scored games. For example, a 7.2 is naturally a better score than 7.1, but what exactly is the difference? As it is already hard to rate a creative piece of work with numbers, having such precise divisions might not mean much to readers. On the other hand, the difference between a 7 (Good) and an 8 (Great) leaves no room for ambiguity. One game clearly made a stronger impression than the other.

Switching to the new 20-point system helps reduce this ambiguity while sending out a message that is loud and clear. Instead of representing the minutia of details in a score, this can be left for the review’s text to elucidate. Where games may have the same score, but one is slightly better than the other, again, what separates them can be discussed in text rather than in a decimal point of the final rating.

There are several reasons why we picked a 20-point scale as opposed to a 10-point one or even a five-star rating. As well as being more streamlined than a 100-point scale, it still allows room to differentiate between games. Allowing for half values (6.5, for example) makes it clear that the game in question might not be Good, but it is better than a straight Fair. The change was not made lightly. The scores at Bigwinboard mean something to us, our readers, and carry weight throughout the wider industry. Picking a number to represent the artwork, sound, playability, winning potential, features, innovation, fun factor, and numerous additional factors making up a game can be a real challenge.

As such, no review site can get it 100% right all the time. Not everyone will agree with our verdicts or ratings, which is simply the nature of assessing creative endeavours. No review system is perfect – who knows, in the future, we might revert to another method that feels better. However, a huge amount of effort goes into rating and reviewing games, playing them, and dissecting them to see how they tick. So, no matter what numerical system is used, our reviews will always be impartial assessments, which is why they are recognized for their transparent honesty.