The Formula
Each title is scored on five pillars. Each pillar runs from 0.1 to 9.9 in 0.1 increments. The Composite Index is simply the arithmetic mean of all five:
Index = ( Story + Visual + Sound + Engagement + Recommend ) ÷ 5
No pillar is weighted higher than another. A 9.6 Engagement score pulls the Index up just as much as a 9.6 Visual Craft score. This keeps the system honest — a visually stunning but unwatchable game can't coast on its art direction alone.
What the Numbers Mean
| Range | What it signals |
|---|---|
| 9.0 – 9.9 | Essential. Among the best content of its kind. Recommend to everyone. |
| 8.0 – 8.9 | Excellent. Clearly above average. Worth your time if the category interests you. |
| 7.0 – 7.9 | Good. Solid entry. Has real strengths but won't be for everyone. |
| 5.0 – 6.9 | Average. Passes the time. Specific pillars may be stronger than others. |
| 3.0 – 4.9 | Below average. Significant weaknesses. Hard to recommend broadly. |
| 0.1 – 2.9 | Skip it. Fails on multiple pillars. Reviewers wouldn't finish it again. |
The Five Pillars — In Depth
Story Flow
0.1 – 9.9
Does the narrative hold together from start to finish? We score pacing, structure, consistency, and whether the plot earns its twists. For games, this includes quest design and world-building logic. For creators, it's the throughline of a video or series arc. A 9+ means you never lost the thread. A 5 means it's watchable but forgettable. Below 3 means the story actively gets in the way.
Visual Craft
0.1 – 9.9
Cinematography, color grading, art direction, production design, or in gaming — graphics fidelity and art style cohesion. This pillar doesn't penalize stylized or lo-fi aesthetics; it scores intentionality and execution. A hand-drawn indie game can score 9.5 in Visual Craft. A bloated AAA game with muddy textures might score 6.2.
Sound / Edit
0.1 – 9.9
Original score, licensed music, sound design, voice acting quality, and editing rhythm. This is the pillar you notice when it's wrong — a bad ADR dub, a jarring cut, a soundtrack that fights the scene. High scores here mean the audio layer is invisible in the best way: it serves the content without drawing attention to itself.
Engagement
0.1 – 9.9
The compulsion to continue. Did you look up and realize it was 2am? Did you queue the next episode immediately? For games, did you open it the next day without being prompted? Engagement is the most behaviorally honest pillar — it doesn't care about artistic merit, only whether you kept going. A 9.5+ means you cancelled plans.
Recommend
0.1 – 9.9
Would you text a specific friend about this right now? Recommend captures the real-world word-of-mouth impulse. It accounts for audience fit — a niche game that's a 9.8 for its audience might only earn a 7.0 Recommend because it's genuinely not for everyone. A 9+ means you'd recommend it unprompted to almost anyone. A 5 means you'd only mention it if someone asked.
Common Questions
Why 0.1 to 9.9 instead of 1 to 10? +
The 0.1 floor exists because a score of zero implies nonexistence — something that received any attention at all deserves at least a minimal score. The 9.9 ceiling exists because a 10 implies perfection, which is a philosophical claim we're not prepared to make about anything. The 0.1 increment keeps precision without false accuracy.
Why are all pillars weighted equally? +
Weighted scoring hides editorial bias inside the formula. If we weighted Story higher for films and Engagement higher for games, we'd be making value judgments that should belong to the reviewer. Equal weighting puts the interpretation back in your hands — you can look at the individual pillars and decide which matter most to you.
Who scores the titles on ScreenIndex? +
A combination of editorial staff and community submissions. All community reviews go through a brief moderation queue before scores are incorporated into the Composite Index. The displayed Index is an average across all accepted reviews for a title.
Does ScreenIndex cover movies? +
No. ScreenIndex is home-screen content only — streaming series, video games, creators, and specials. Theatrical films are covered by our sister site, Film.Index-Reviews.com, which uses the same five-pillar methodology.
Can I dispute a score? +
The best way to shift a score is to submit your own review. If you think Balatro deserves a 9.9 Engagement, submit your score — it gets averaged in. Over time, titles with many reviews converge toward community consensus. You can flag scoring anomalies via the Submit page if you believe an error was made.