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Ethics and Review Policy

Last updated: April 20th, 2024.

Code of Ethics

We at Comfy Cozy Gaming pride ourselves as writers and journalists in the field of gaming and things we consider comfortable (i.e. comfy) in terms of ethics and more. Although journalism comes with its own unspoken set of rules, regulations, and codes, we strive to hold ourselves to the highest standards as both writers and people. 

We’re friends to the industry and want to help the unheard be heard. When conducting reviews, we stand separate from any friendships or biases to give a fair score. Writing news may have some opinions sprinkled throughout, but we only report factual information.

Being only a husband and wife duo running Comfy Cozy Gaming together, we do not get paid by any first, second, or third party to run this website. We receive no kickbacks or bribes from companies to advertise on our website. All products and services accepted from publishers, developers, or corporations are used solely for review, preview, or news-focused content.

Affiliate links, Ko-Fi donations, and any advertisements that may show up on Comfy Cozy Gaming directly support the co-owners, Arthur and Ashley Collins, solely, to keep the website running and to support us doing what we love.

If and when we ever publish sponsored content, it will be clearly marked as such and you will know that that content is a paid sponsorship.

We occasionally post links within articles to Amazon, Humble Bundle, Green Man Gaming, and more where we may get a percentage of your purchase if you buy anything using the link.

Additionally, our Epic Games Creator Code is COMFYCOZYGAMING.

We’re entirely independent and appreciate any support you give us. Thanks!

Review and Scoring Guidelines

Scoring a game is a big deal and we keep up with our ethics code for it. These numbers mean something to a lot of people. Since we live in a world that really necessitates hard data like a review score, we want people to take that score seriously.

  • 1/10 to 4/10: We’re here to raise the indie and cozy communities as high as we can, when possible. We’re not here to break them down. If the game is unplayable or we feel it just wasn’t a game for us (even if it isn’t bad), we opt not to make a fully scored review. Instead, the game will be included in our monthly review round-up, complete with our reasoning of why it didn’t get a score.
  • 5/10: The game or product is pretty broken, but it’s at least playable and I can see how someone might play this for a laugh or something or grab it on a heavy sale. It could be worse.
  • 6/10: This game is buggy and has a lot of issues, or the product has some clear faults. The story or features might have some shape, but it isn’t quite there yet. The graphics and gameplay are rough.
  • 7/10: The game or product is pretty thorough. It’s got plenty of great ideas to work with, but it still has a lot of problems or gets repetitive. It’s definitely got some “fun value”, but those future firmware updates are going to be doing a lot of heavy lifting.
  • 8/10: The game is shaping up to be good. It’s not truly great, but it’s not terrible by any stretch of the imagination. It has some issues, but it’s really fun to play.
  • 9/10: This game is nearly perfect. With a couple of adjustments, it could have been. But, it falls short of attaining the crown due to some specific issue that brings it down a notch. 
  • 10/10: This game set out to do something and it did it in spades. It’s not about whether the game is perfect in comparison to other titles out there that have nothing to do with it, but if it succeeds in doing exactly what it set out to be. This game or product achieves perfection in that.

Reviews generally will always contain Gameplay and Story, Art and Sound, Coziness, Pros and Cons, and some sort of verdict. To stick with the ethics code, we also make sure to mention if the product or game has been given to us by the publisher or company, or if we bought it ourselves.

We score everything in two ways: Review Score and Coziness Score. The Review Score is the base score for the entire review and is the overall thought about the game or product itself. The Coziness Score is more meta, focusing on whether the game is truly considered a “cozy game”. The Coziness Score does not affect the main Review Score unless otherwise stated.

In addition, we do occasional news on the website. Just like anything else, we receive no kickbacks or special privileges by doing news or press releases.

Disclaimer: While news is often written by Ashley or Arthur, we also post press releases, as-is. In those cases, neither writer/editor takes credit for the writing of the public relations person, game developer, or publisher, and is marked under the “Coziest Editor” name.

If you’re a game developer, publisher, or PR person looking to have your game featured on Comfy Cozy Gaming for news, reviews, previews, or anything in between, please reach out to editor@comfycozygaming.com.