Reviewing the Reviews

Play Games and Review the Reviews

The best way to learn to write a review is to read them.  But, you have to know what you're reviewing in order to understand them, right?  So, you are going to download some games, read the reviews, and then review the review using a template designed to write a review.  That's a lot to take in, so we're going to do it step by step.

1. First, go to this list and choose one app to download.
2. Download the app, and spend at least 10-15 minutes playing it
3. Now go to this list of reviews, find the review written for your game and read it.
4. Review the review:

Here are the general guidelines covering pictures, capitalization, etc., and here are the formal guidelines.  You do not have to do anything with these yet, just go over them so you are familiar with the guidelines.

Copy and paste the following into a new blog post.  The areas in red come from the formal guidelines.  They are there just to help you with your review of the review and you can delete them.

Name of App being Reviewed:

About the title:  (should include the name of the app and attract the reader with witty or even cheesy phrases)

1. Did the title state the app name and draw your attention?
2. Try to write a better one:

About the introduction: (Two separate, short, paragraphs covering what the app does and what the review will cover.)

1. Did the writer include two short paragraphs that introduces the app?
2. Did the paragraphs say what the review would cover?

About the Overview (Overview should explain what the application does, how to install or sign up, talk about the main function and what need it fills)

1. Did the writer include an overview of the app?
2. How many paragraphs?

About the headings: Headings should cover all the different aspects of the app.
These vary for each app, but you’ll definitely want to include at least:

1. Overall design:  colors, the way the app is designed, the way it's laid out
2. Functionality:  is it easy to find the controls, menus, etc. Does it do what you expect it to do?
3. Performance:  does it stall, shut down unexpectedly?  Is it fast?  Are there too many steps?
4. Comparison to Other Apps (if you've reviewed similar apps)
5. Pricing, etc. :  is it worth the cost?  If it's free, was it worth the download time?
6. Any other heading that would be appropriate to your app.

List the different headings used in the review, and next to the heading, state whether the review did a poor, adequate or superior job covering the topic in the heading.

1.

2.

etc.

About the images:  (Thumbnail or icon for the article  just before the beginning paragraph, captions for all images, screenshots for each heading.)

1. How many pictures/screenshots were used? 
2. Was there one screenshot for each heading?
3. Did the screenshot illustrate the heading?

About the conclusion: Should summarize the writer's thoughts on the app in general, remind readers what he/she liked, suggest areas for improvement, draw the article to a close and give a rating.

1. Did the writer remind you which parts of the app he/she liked?
2. Did the writer suggest improvements?
3. Did the writer give a link to the app?
4. Did the writer give a rating?  What was it?

About the review:

1. Do you agree with the writer's review? Why or why not?
2. Is there something the writer did not include in the review that you thought should be covered?  What:
3. Is there something the writer did include that you thought was irrelevant?  What: