How we actually test games offline

People sometimes ask how we decide whether a game is truly offline. The short answer: we turn the internet off and try to break it. The long answer is a little more involved.

First we install the game while connected, then immediately switch to airplane mode before the first launch where possible. If it refuses to start, that tells us a lot. Then we play through the opening, trigger a few save points, close the app completely, and reopen it still offline to confirm nothing was lost.

We also look for the sneaky stuff: features that silently fail offline, progress that quietly syncs only when you reconnect, or menus that hang waiting for a server. These don't always break a game, but readers deserve to know about them.

It's not glamorous work, but it's the whole point of the site. A game that plays beautifully on your sofa Wi-Fi but dies on a flight isn't an offline game, and we'll say so plainly in the review.