Cory in the House: Outscoring Legends
Cory in the House, an obscure adventure game released on the Nintendo DS, is suddenly on track to claim the top spot on Metacritic, at least if you rely on the current avalanche of user scores and reviews. As of today, this little-known Disney title boasts an average rating of 9.3. Yes, higher than The Last of Us, Half-Life 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Resident Evil 4. No, this is not an April Fools’ joke—honest!
Among the 5,984 games analyzed by Metacritic, Cory in the House now sits tied in second place with The Witcher 3. The only game ahead of it, as of this writing, is the fantasy RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, currently holding a 9.6 average. So, how did this underdog (to put it kindly) stage such a comeback? Has Cory in the House, the game adaptation of the Disney Channel spin-off, really earned this adulation?
The Difference Between Critics and “Fans”
You probably already suspect the answer: absolutely not. Unsurprisingly, Cory in the House is, by most professional standards, a stinker—at least according to the two press reviews archived by Metacritic. One was written by IGN US, which handed down the crushing score of 3 out of 10.
“The controls are among the worst we’ve ever seen, the game’s presentation is insultingly stupid, the mini-games barely deserve the name, and to top it all off, the game is really short,” reads the review. Faced with such an assessment, a 3 out of 10 almost seems generous—maybe the brevity was the only mercy?
Now, compare this scathing verdict to the tidal wave of 10 out of 10s flooding its Metacritic page, and you’ll see why people are confused. User DinoDino316, for example, wrote just today:
“This game has definitely changed my outlook on life and made me a better person.”
Another review by user Moguel, posted within the past 24 hours, declares:
“This game changed me forever. Every day, from sunrise to sunset, I thank God from the bottom of my heart for the creation of Cory in the House.”
How Does a Meme Become the Best Game Ever?
So why on earth are gamers suddenly gushing over a nearly 20-year-old flop based on a short-lived spin-off of That’s So Raven (for the uninitiated, the original show Cory in the House spun off from)? As you’ve surely guessed, it’s all a colossal troll job. And it’s nothing new: users from the notorious 4chan forum recently reignited a burst of “hype” for the game on sites like GameFAQs and Amazon, helping to orchestrate its current spike in ratings.
It’s not even the first time Cory in the House has been targeted. Back in 2015, the same kind of “reverse review bombing” saw the game reach a stratospheric user score of 9.7 on Metacritic—no joke. Today’s surge is just the latest installment in a long-running internet running gag.
More Than Just a Prank: Manipulating Ratings for Fun
So, nothing new under the sun. It’ll be interesting to see if Metacritic takes action to rebalance Cory in the House’s sudden rise to glory. IGN has already reached out to them for comment.
In the meantime, this is a textbook example of just how easily user ratings on Metacritic can be manipulated—skewing a game’s “real” standing. But at least this time, no genuinely good game is being bombed with bad reviews out of spite—just a notorious dud is getting its fifteen minutes of ironic fame.
