How we actually test whether a game is offline

'Works offline' gets thrown around a lot, so we made a simple routine to check it for real. It's not fancy, but it catches the games that quietly need a connection.

First we install with Wi-Fi on, then immediately switch to airplane mode before opening the game. If it stalls on a loading screen or begs for a login, that's a red flag right away.

Next we play a full session offline — start a level, save, close the app, reopen it, all with no signal. We also note storage size and battery drain, because a great offline game is useless if it eats your phone alive.

Only after a game passes all of that do we start writing about how it actually plays. Reliability first, fun second — though the best ones give you both.