Why a premium indie shortlist stays paid
This wellhead only ranks one-time App Store purchases. Reigns and Downwell list at $2.99; holedown at $3.99. That filter is deliberate: we want cards where the price is the access, not a soft gate into a shop.
What paid buys us as editors
A clear price line, fewer incentive to invent “value” claims, and a reader path that ends on Apple’s buy button — not on our domain.
What we still refuse to invent
Download totals stay off the page. Session length estimates stay off the page unless the developer publishes them. Our job is the card, the date, and the review.