Most games rental companies operate with the same simple rules:

	1. Selection: First you pick the games you'd like to rent, in order of preference, from an online library of titles in your preferred format. New releases or obscure titles are often unavailable, so instead of getting your number 1 choice, you may get lower-ranked ones instead. This is why the games rental companies suggest having preference lists at least 10 games long, so they can always supply something you want.
	2. Dispatch: The games rental company will mail your game(s) out to you by first class mail. They usually arrive within one to two days.
	3. Enjoy: Keep the game as long as you like--none of the companies listed on Games-Rental-Guide.com charge late fees.
	4. Return: When you're finished with the game, simply reuse the envelope and send it back (Business Reply Mail, prepaid). When they receive the game, they mail out another one straight to your door from your preference list, and so on. WHEN YOU WISH TO CANCEL YOUR MEMBERSHIP WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU GET A PROOF OF mailING FROM THE mail OFFICE WHEN YOU BACK SEND YOUR LAST GAME/S AND/OR DVDS.

Packages: Games rental companies offer packages of one-to-five games (or games and DVDs) at home at time. All come individually packaged and you can send them back as you finish with them, in theory allowing you to have new game rentals all the time as they constantly recycle through the mail. It is worth considering how long you would expect to need to hang on to the game for in order to make sure you're getting good value for money relative to buying the game or renting it from the local video shop. In addition to value, you also get a much better range;with the big companies often stocking all available titles for the main games consoles. Think how much time you have to spare before signing up for a three game rental package; most people are quite happy sticking to one game at a time, winning or getting tired of it over a week or two, then moving on to something new.

Free Trials: The best thing is, most games rental companies currently offer a free trial period, usually 14 days--so feel free to look around and sample several games rental sites before settling down on one. As a matter of fact, you could migrate from company to company on the list, enjoying free games rentals for over three and a half months. If you played just one game a week, that would be 14 free game rentals, more if you have the time to play them and opt for 2 or more games-at-a-time packages . If you do choose to try this you absolutely must cancel the subscription online before the trial period is up--in some cases several days before --or they automatically (and legitimately if its stated in their terms and conditions) start charging your credit card as if you'd subscribed.

Advice On Choosing the Right Games Rental Company

Platform: Obviously the most important factor in choosing a games rental company is whether they have games for your particular console - not all companies support all platforms. This why, in addition to the main table on our homepage, we also rank the sites by the platform they cater for to make choosing simple for you- see the dropdown bar at the top of the page for these.

Range: The overall catalogue size isn't always declared by the games rental companies, and even if it is, can be misleading as a company with thousands of titles may be catering for all available consoles whereas a smaller company may have fewer titles in total but they may include all the available titles for just two or three platforms.

Price: The costs among games rental companies are so similar (and you're already getting such a discount over the high street stores) that we don't think price should be the critical factor. We'd much rather pay an extra dollar for a much better service than be stuck with the frustration of one of the many clunker sites out there, but it's entirely a matter of personal taste to balance these various factors.

Location: Location of a company's distribution centers can make a big different to how soon you'll get games in the mail. If you live on the East Coast, choose a company with an East Coast depoit and you can get games within 1 or 2 days--go with a West Coast companies and you're talking 3 or as many as 5 days (each way)--that's time and money wasted. To help choose, we list locations and even sort the companies by Top East Coast Sites, Top West Coast Sites, and Top Interior Sites.

Member Reviews/Ratings: We make use of feedback from customers to make changes to the ranking of the games rental companies on the tables, in both service and value. We also list recent reviews at the bottom of each companies page for you to read, and these can be an important indicator of what you can expect from the company you're considering. Some online game rental companies supply instructions, reviews, cheats, and customer reviews; we mention these in the reviews where possible, but it's always best to browse a site before subscribing.

Phone Support: This may be important to you, so we list it on the site, where available. Not all games rental companies provide a phone number and it can be very frustrating trying to contact them by email if you have problems with missing games, canceling subscriptions etc.

Film Rentals: You may also be interested in renting films under the same games rental program-- this can be a very convenient combination if you are a family or just want DVD rentals too, though these companies tend to concentrate on DVD rental as their main business so games titles tend to be limited. See our list of combination companies in Games and Movies for more information.