Critics who have never made anything are reviewing a game they’ve never played.

There is a difference between knowing what you like and knowing what it takes. Someone who has never finished anything can still have a real reaction, and that reaction is worth hearing as a reaction. What they cannot tell you is why a choice was made, what got traded away, or what the alternatives actually cost. Confidence about the inside of a process nobody has been inside is worth what it sounds like.

Weigh notes by whether the person has ever been in the chair. Listen to anyone about how it felt. Take direction about how to fix it from people who have had to fix something themselves.