The New York Times writer Nate Chinen viewed the album's production as inconsistent, but found Black Thought's performance more focused and engaged than on previous efforts, while writing that "?uestlove infuses Game Theory with a hard sonic logic, so that the music often sounds as tough as the lyrics". Vibes Thomas Golianopoulos gave it 4 out of 5 stars and called it "a masterfully crafted, sobering wake-up call". Jeff Vrabel of PopMatters dubbed it "The Roots' darkest, grimiest, most unrelenting and possibly most focused effort to date".
The New York Times writer Nate Chinen found the album's production inconsistent but praised Black Thought's performance as more focused and engaged than on previous albums. He also noted that "?uestlove" infused the music with a hard sonic logic, making it sound tough like the lyrics. Vibes Thomas Golianopoulos gave it 4 out of 5 stars and called it "a masterfully crafted, sobering wake-up call". Jeff Vrabel from PopMatters described it as "The Roots' darkest, grimiest, most unrelenting and possibly most focused effort to date".