[fenomas]

> For the age rating to be trustworthy, someone actually has to play your game, in full..

If you think about that for ten seconds you'll realize how absurd it is, and if you google it for ten more you'll find out that they actually just watch a short video (which the game maker must prepare, and sign a contract promising that it shows all the necessary elements of the game).

Random search result that describes the process: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/how-to-get-an-age-rat...

[Kwpolska]

While the Japanese organisation might only watch videos, other rating boards do play the games:

https://usk.de/en/home/age-classification-for-games-and-apps...

https://gamesratingauthority.org.uk/RatingBoard/ratings-proc... (which provides PEGI ratings for 12+ games)

[fenomas]

> other rating boards do play the games...

...to check whether the video they watched was representative, sure. Not in full, or to view "all dialogue and content".