Things to remember:

• This template is not required.
• This template supplements the reception section; it does not replace it.
• Only include reviews if they are cited within the text.

• {{Video game reviews}} is not required. Traditional reviews, or those that provide some type of score, may be few and far between for some games. If you only have a couple of such reviews which could be used to fill the table, consider foregoing the table and instead simply state these in the body of reception text.
• All reviews must be referenced. Individual reviews should cite their original publication, not the truncated aggregator summary. See also Wikipedia:WikiProject Video games/Sources.
• Every single-site review source should be used within the reception section. The reviews table supports the text. It is not to replicate the function of external review aggregators.
• Stay with the "usual suspects".

Aggregators present readers with a quick gauge of the critical consensus.

• Metacritic − Industry standard
• GameRankings − Useful for older games

  Do not include GameRankings in articles about newer games. GameRankings is mainly useful for older games and it is mainly duplication in newer ones. Round aggregator scores to the nearest whole number (e.g., 83.46% → 83%).

• OpenCritic − Useful for newer games.

  Only use OpenCritic's Critics Recommend metric normally. Do not include OpenCritic's Top Critic Average metric in articles that have a Metacritic score.

The following sources comprise the most popular and influential voices in the games industry. They provide a core selection of reviews to build a reception section:

• IGN − Most popular English language games website
• GameSpot − Second most popular English language games website
• Game Informer − US magazine with the largest circulation
• Edge − UK's longest running print magazine
• Eurogamer − Most popular European English language games website

For older games, particularly fifth generation and earlier, web based publications lacked the reach and influence of print publications. Consider these sources:

• Computer and Video Games − UK magazine first published in 1981
• Computer Gaming World − US PC magazine first published in 1981
• Electronic Gaming Monthly − US magazine first published in 1989 (See below)
• GamePro − US magazine first published in 1989
• These publications and others may be available from the WikiProject's reference library.

Single platform publications may offer specialist insight to platform-exclusive games, and allow readers to compare the reception across platforms of multiplatform games. Consider sources such as Nintendo Power, Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer, PlayStation Official Magazine – UK, and others.

For niche genres, genre publications may offer specialist insight. Consider sources such as Adventure Gamers, RPGamer, PC Pilot, and others.

Games which have strong cultural ties to their country of origin should have reception from that same country. Japanese games and Japanese ports of American games, for example, are best served with a Famitsu review (See below).

Consider coverage from outside traditional video games media. High quality sources such as The New York Times, Wired, and the BBC do not cater to a "gamer" audience, but may on occasion cover video games. Wikipedia is both a generalist and specialist encyclopedia. Opinions from these sources may be more accessible to a non-gamer audience and place the subject in a greater cultural and societal context than is possible at a narrowly focused video gaming publication.

Consider the aggregate scoring breakdown. The review aggregators used in the table are considered reliable sources and are trusted to provide the critical consensus. However, some games may divide opinion and there may be no true consensus. This division of opinion may already have been captured following the guidelines above, but if not - consider including further reviews expressing these "outlier" opinions.

• Reviews without scores: Some publications, such as Kotaku and Polygon, may not score their reviews. If, instead of a score, the publication presents the game with a badge or award in its review, this can be included in the table. This is not necessary.
• Collective scoring: Publications such as Electronic Gaming Monthly and Famitsu review games among a group, with each reviewer offering their individual score. Using the average or cumulative score from these publications will result in the loss of that breakdown, so include the individual scores, either in the table itself or in a footnote.
• Numerical scores: Make sure to include the maximum possible score for a review if the review uses a numerical value ("7/10", "86/100"). This is not required if the score is published as a percentage, as this presumes the maximum score of 100%.
• Letter grades: Ratings that use a letter grade system should simply present the letter grade ("B-", "C+").
• Stars: If a review uses a star rating, convert it to the numerical value ("3.5/5" but not ""). The {{rating}} using has been discarded.
• Individual component ratings: If a review scores components of a game separately (but does not give an overall score) e.g Graphics 3/5, Sound 4/5, Gameplay 5/5 etc, add all the components together to reach a single score like 12/15, and add a footnote listing the individual scores.

All of the following fields are optional:

title*

Can be used to provide a custom title for the table; otherwise, it will default to "Reception".

subtitle*

Used to add additional text before the collapsible section. This is necessary to add if want a longer title, as long titles via the "title" parameter will not center correctly.

state* [autocollapse, collapsed, expanded]

autocollapse  –  The table will start out collapsed if there are two or more tables on the same page that use other collapsible tables. Otherwise, the table will be expanded. For technical details, see MediaWiki:Common.js.

collapsed  –  The table will be collapsed (hidden) by default. This is useful for very long tables.

expanded  –  The table will be expanded (shown) by default. This is useful if autocollapse is not showing the table in a section that it wouldn't matter.

If undefined or set to blank, the table will not be collapsible. The table will also not be collapsible if the title parameter is not set.

align*

right  –  Displays the table on the right. This is default.

left  –  Displays the table on the left.

inherit  –  Specifies that the value of the float property should be inherited from the parent element.

none  –  The table is not aligned, and will be displayed just where it occurs in the text on the page.

qid

Can be used to link to a different Wikidata QID than the current page. Specifying 'none' will disable Wikidata pull entirely.

df

Can be used to specify the date format for any generated citations from Wikidata.

Use "wikidata" as the rating for the above fields to pull from aggregator reviews declared on the game's respective Wikidata page. This will automatically build references from Wikidata as well. The default date format is MDY. To change it, specify another format with "|df=<format>" such as DMY, YMD, etc. See WP:VG/WD for a quick guide on editing Wikidata.

award_n*

These are for the title of the awards that the game has won.

award_nPub*

These are the publishers that provided the award for the game.

Example Blank Template

{{Video game reviews
| title = 
| subtitle = 
<!-- Formatting -->
| state = <!-- blank/collapsed/collapsed/expanded -->
| align = <!-- left/right/none/inherit -->
<!-- Awards; no limit -->
| award1Pub = 
| award1 = 
| award2Pub = 
| award2 = 
}}

award_n*

These are for the title of the awards that the game has won.

award_nPub*

These are the publishers that provided the award for the game.

rev_n*

These are for custom reviewers. Use with rev_nScore.

rev_nScore*

These are for custom reviewers scores for each Platform. Use with rev_n.

agg_n*

These are for custom aggregate. Use with agg_nScore.

agg_nScore*

These are for custom aggregate scores for each Platform. Use with agg_n.

Example Blank Template

{{Video game reviews
| title = 
| subtitle = 
<!-- Formatting -->
| state = <!-- blank/collapsed/collapsed/expanded -->
| align = <!-- left/right/none/inherit -->
<!-- Aggregators -->
| MC = 
<!-- Reviewers -->
| XPlay = 
| IGN = 
<!-- Custom aggregators; limit is set to 10 -->
| agg1 = 
| agg1Score = 
| agg2 = 
| agg2Score = 
<!-- Custom Reviewers; limit is set to 10 -->
| rev1 = 
| rev1Score = 
| rev2 = 
| rev2Score = 
<!-- Awards; no limit -->
| award1Pub = 
| award1 = 
| award2Pub = 
| award2 = 
}}

na*

This will set a fill of N/A grayed out.

award_n*

These are for the title of the awards that the game has won.

award_nPub*

These are the publishers that provided the award for the game.

rev_n*

These are for custom reviewers. Use with rev_nPlatform.

rev_nPlatform*

These are for custom reviewers scores for each Platform. Use with rev_n.

You first need to put any platforms that are being used. The code to use is as follows:
Enter "true" into any platform used.
If not used, set to non-true value, leave blank, or delete the parameter.

{{Video game reviews
| title = 
| subtitle = 
<!-- Formatting -->
| state = <!-- blank/collapsed/collapsed/expanded -->
| align = <!-- left/right/none/inherit -->
| na = true/false; default is false and can be omitted
<!-- Turn on platform etc. -->
| DS = true
| iOS = false
<!-- Aggregators etc. -->
| MC_DS = 
| MC_iOS = 
<!-- Reviewers etc. -->
| XPlay_iOS = 
| IGN_X360 = 
<!-- Custom reviewers; limit is set to 10 -->
| rev1 = 
| rev1_PC = 
| rev1_X360 = 
| rev2 = 
| rev2_PC = 
<!-- Awards; no limit -->
| award1Pub = 
| award1 = 
| award2Pub = 
| award2 = 
}}

Go to Module:Video game reviews/data and add {'wiki url/title', 'short code for the system'} within the system array.

• Define a code for the new platform, such as "PS2" for PlayStation 2.
• Determine its alphabetical order, and the platform code preceding and succeeding it. For example, for PS2, the PS precedes, and the PS3 succeeds.

Go to Module: Video game reviews/data and add {'wikilink/title', 'short code for the reviewer'} within the reviewer array.

• Define a code into the appropriate place (alphabetically) of the existing code.
• Provide an appropriate wikilink if available.

This template data section contains only key parameters.

• Wikipedia:WikiProject Video games/Sources
• Template:Video game series reviews (backlinks edit) for video games in a series.
• Template:Rating (backlinks edit)
• Template:TV ratings (backlinks edit)
• Template:Film and game ratings (backlinks edit)