Know your reviews before they’re written.
Mock reviews and game evaluations from the critics publishers watch.
Pad & Pixel’s review practice is led by Brian Crecente — founder of Kotaku, co-founder of Polygon, and former games editorial lead at Rolling Stone and Variety — backed by a vetted bench of more than 50 working and former games critics across eight countries. Under NDA, we tell you what the press and your players will say while there’s still time to act on it.
Signature Mock Review
A full pre-release review written personally by Brian Crecente — played to completion, scored, and argued. Predicted Metacritic band and Steam sentiment outlook, strengths and weaknesses, prioritized fixes, comparables analysis, and a live debrief with your team. Fixed-fee by game tier; no hourly meters, no surprises.
Critical Panel
Three to five critics drawn from our 50+ reviewer bench independently write mock reviews of your game — each selected for genre expertise, region, and generation — topped with a Crecente-written synthesis: where the critics converge, where they split, and what to fix, lead with, and brace for.
Game Evaluation
For titles still in development, vertical slice through beta: a deep analytical report on vision coherence, systems, genre positioning, and audience — delivered while every finding is still actionable. No score predictions before beta; we don’t sell false precision.
Readiness Review — from $1,500
A fast, focused read on a single beat before the public sees it: a Steam Next Fest demo, store page, trailer, or announcement package. Written by a vetted senior critic from our bench and edited by Crecente — delivered in one week.
Staged Evaluation Program
Critical checkpoints from vertical slice through gold, closing with a full mock review or panel at near-gold — so launch reviews are a confirmation, not a surprise. Retainer clients get priority scheduling.
vetted reviewers
with prior client mock or evaluation work
genre clusters covered
countries represented
How it works: NDA → build access → played and written → report and live debrief. Typical turnaround is two to three weeks. Every engagement runs under NDA, client lists stay private, and a standing recusal policy separates this work from Brian Crecente’s published journalism.
Have a title that could use a pre-launch read?
Get the full service and rate card, or just start a conversation.
Request the rate card