Old Man Murray Test

The Old Man Murray test is a somewhat tongue in cheek way of judging how good a video game is. The test is to time how long it takes to spot a wooden crate anywhere in the game. The idea being, the less effort a studio puts into a game’s graphics and area design, the more likely they are to use wooden crates as decorations just to fill up space. Named after its creator, a hilariously sarcastic video game critic who lived in Austin during the 90s named Old Man Murray.

Various games and their scores on the Old Man Murray Test
Pokémon Legends ZA: 2 minutes
Final Fantasy VII: 7 minutes
Minecraft: There are no crates in the entire game
TF2: 5 to 30 seconds, depending which map you play first
Ocarina of Time: 30 minutes

Earthbound: 2 hours

by Shepherd Guy December 27, 2025