Fake and inflated app reviews are easiest to spot as patterns, not single posts. Sort a game’s reviews by most recent, read the two- to four-star ones, and watch for warning signs: a burst of short five-star reviews on the same few days, repeated phrases, praise that could describe any app, and a sky-high rating built on a handful of reviews. Then check the developer’s name and whether recent reviewers keep mentioning the same problem. What real players complain about tells you more than the star average ever will.
Why can’t you trust the star rating alone? #
Even without any fraud, game ratings lean high, for ordinary reasons:
- Rating prompts arrive at happy moments. A game asks you to rate it right after you win or clear a level, not after you lose. Apple requires apps to use its own rating pop-up (guideline 5.6.1 of the App Review Guidelines), and Google bans forced or deceptive rating prompts, but picking a good moment is allowed.
- Ratings can be reset. On the App Store, developers can reset the star summary when they release a new version, so a fresh 4.8 may only reflect the last few weeks.
- Unhappy players leave quietly. Most people who dislike a game just delete it.
- Old ratings hide new changes. A game that added aggressive monetization last month can still carry years of five-star reviews from before.
Then there’s actual manipulation: bought reviews, reviews traded for in-game rewards, and fake accounts. All of it is against the rules. Apple’s guideline 5.6.3 says developers who inflate rankings with “paid, incentivized, filtered, or fake feedback” can be expelled from its developer program. Google Play’s ratings and reviews policy bans “fraudulent or incentivized reviews and ratings.” In the US, the FTC’s 2024 rule bans buying and selling fake reviews and paying for reviews that express a particular opinion. Rules don’t catch everything, which is why the signs below are worth knowing.
8 signs of fake or inflated game reviews #
1. A burst of five-star reviews on the same days #
Real reviews trickle in. Dozens of five-star reviews within a day or two, especially right after launch or an update, suggest a campaign.
2. Praise that could describe any app #
“Great game!!! Best app ever” says nothing about the game. Real reviews mention specifics: a level, a character, the ads, a bug.
3. Repeated wording #
The same phrases, emoji patterns or odd grammar across several different reviewers is a giveaway.
4. A near-perfect rating from very few reviews #
A 4.9 from 40 ratings means little. Look at how many ratings sit behind the average.
5. Reviews that mention a reward for rating #
“Gave 5 stars for the free gems” means the game is trading rewards for ratings, which both stores ban.
6. Reviews about a different app #
Some fake reviews are pasted from other listings and don’t match the game at all.
7. Five stars and one star, nothing in between #
A split between gushing and furious reviews often means the good ones are padded, or that the game changed recently. Read the angry ones to find out which.
8. A developer catalog full of near-copies #
Tap the developer’s name. A list of nearly identical games with slightly different names is the mark of a clone factory.
How do you read game reviews the smart way? #
- Sort by most recent. Both stores let you switch from the default order to the newest reviews, which shows the game as it is now.
- Read the middle. Two-, three- and four-star reviews are where people explain what’s good and what isn’t.
- Look for the problems you care about. Ads, paywalls, crashes on your phone model, lost progress.
- Read the developer’s replies. A developer who answers complaints with specifics (“fixed in version 2.3”) is a good sign. The same copy-pasted reply under every review isn’t.
- Check the parts reviewers can’t fake. The In-App Purchases list, the App Store’s privacy label and Google Play’s Data safety section come from the developer and the store. Our guide to spotting pay-to-win games shows what to look for in the purchase list.
Check the exact name and the developer #
Clones borrow the look and name of popular games, and their reviews are often written by confused players who thought they’d downloaded the original. At the height of the Flappy Bird craze, dozens of clones were arriving on the App Store every day, as we cover in what happened to Flappy Bird. Search for the exact game name, check the developer, and start from the link on the game’s official website when there is one.
A different name isn’t always a fake, though. Flappy Kittens is Flappy Cat on Google Play because the name was already taken on the App Store, and its website links to the right listing on each store. Our guide to spotting fake game apps and copycats covers the other checks to run on a listing before you install.
For better ways to find games than whatever tops the chart this week, see how to find good mobile games.
How do you report a fake review? #
Both stores let you flag individual reviews. Look for the menu or long-press option on the review itself and choose the report or flag option. If a whole listing looks fraudulent, such as a clone pretending to be a famous game, you can report the app from its store page as well. Reports feed the stores’ review-moderation systems, and removing fake reviews also removes the rating they propped up.
Frequently asked questions #
Are App Store reviews real? #
Most are written by real players. But ratings lean positive for the reasons above, and some reviews are fake despite the rules. Treat the star average as a rough signal and the recent written reviews as the real information.
Can developers delete bad reviews? #
No. Developers can reply to reviews, and on the App Store they can reset the star rating with a new version, but they can’t remove individual reviews. Apple and Google can remove reviews that break their rules.
Why do games keep asking me to rate them? #
Because ratings affect how a game shows up in the store. The rules say the pop-up must be the store’s official one, and the game isn’t allowed to offer rewards for rating it.
What’s a good rating for a mobile game? #
There’s no magic number. A 4.3 with thousands of detailed reviews is more trustworthy than a 4.9 from a few dozen. Look at the count, the recent trend and what the complaints are about.
Is the Flappy Bird on the App Store the original? #
No. The original was removed in February 2014. Anything called Flappy Bird on the stores today is the 2024 reboot or a clone. Our list of games like Flappy Bird sorts out the real options.