Bruno Faidutti has posted a refreshingly candid editorial on his front page about cronyism. He defends his right to spotlight his friends’ and aquaintances’ games and I cannot disagree with him.
The lesson is that you always have to bear a reviewer’s motivations and tastes in mind. Whenever Bruno reviews a light, chaotic game by a French designer, who is one of his friends, and likes it, I take the review with a pinch of salt. Whenever he reviews a complex, long, computational wargame by Reiner Knizia (!) and likes it, I pay extra attention.
I am not picking on Bruno at all, but he is honest enough with himself and with his audience for me to use him as an example.
Well you clearly have the right idea, Iain; a review is after all just another opinion.
I find most reviews useful, at least for the potential of finding something out about the game.
Oh I totally agree. They are all useful to some extent. It’s just a question of knowing the reviewer’s bias.