Game quality
Steam user sentiment carries most of this signal, with critic score contributing when available. If only one source exists, we use it and lower confidence elsewhere.
Transparent by design
A good price is only a deal
when the game is worth playing.
LootRadar’s Deal Score estimates the intersection of game quality, price value, discount strength, review confidence, and player interest. A 90% discount cannot rescue a poorly reviewed game.
Deal ScoreQuality × 35% + Price value × 25% + Discount × 20% + Review confidence × 10% + Player interest × 10% − penalties
The five signals
What goes into the score
Price value
When a user opens a game, its current price is compared with CheapShark’s recorded historical low. In the list view, CheapShark Deal Rating is used as a clearly labeled proxy.
Discount strength
Discount tops out at 70% for scoring purposes. A 90% badge is visually notable, but contributes no more than a genuinely strong 70% discount.
Review confidence
Review count is scaled logarithmically. Moving from 10 to 1,000 reviews matters much more than moving from 100,000 to 110,000.
Player interest
Review volume is combined with a modest release-recency signal. Popularity supports a recommendation; it does not replace quality.
Default quality gate
What you see first
The main feed normally requires at least 70% positive user reviews and 100 reviews when those values are available, plus a meaningful discount or strong price-value signal. Missing critic data does not automatically hide a game.
You can relax every quality rule from Filters. Those choices are written into the URL, so the result can be bookmarked or shared.
Excluded by default
- DLC and season passes
- Demos, prologues, and playtests
- Soundtracks and art books
- Virtual currency and cosmetic packs
- Bundles and duplicate editions
- Spam-like titles and suspicious list prices
- Lower-confidence Early Access listings
Guardrails
Penalties are explicit
No reliable quality data−18
Fewer than 10 reviews−22
10–49 reviews−12
50–99 reviews−5
Below 50% positive−25
50–69% positive−12
Non-game content−60
Spam-like title−15
Suspicious list-price ratio−10
Worked examples
Three very different deals
91Excellent + strong discount
94% positive · 48,000 reviews · 60% off
Quality 92.9, price value 92, discount 85.7, confidence 99.6, interest 86.4. No penalties. The strong game and strong price reinforce each other.
56Mediocre + huge discount
58% positive · 220 reviews · 90% off
The discount signal maxes out at 100, but quality is only 56.3 and mixed sentiment applies a −12 penalty. It does not qualify for the default feed.
82Excellent + modest discount
97% positive · 180,000 reviews · 25% off
Discount is only 35.7, but extraordinary quality, price context, and confidence still make this a strong recommendation.
Sources & limitations
Scores are estimates, not facts.
Prices, store availability, and recorded historical lows come from CheapShark. Review aggregates and basic metadata come from CheapShark plus Steam/SteamSpy enrichment. Prices are in USD and can change between refreshes.
LootRadar does not currently have a licensed full price time series, dependable bundle-frequency history, console pricing, publisher batch-release analysis, or verified Steam Deck status. Those signals are not invented. Missing information lowers confidence and is labeled.
Purchase links may be affiliate links. Affiliate relationships never affect the score or ranking.