Dispatches from the Phantom Moon Empire
Long-form reviews, indie deep-dives and lore essays written by a small crew of players in Fitzroy. No hype cycles, no review scores bought with early access — just honest words about the games we can't stop thinking about.
Our story
From a share-house LAN party to a proper publication
We started as five friends arguing about save-scumming over cheap noodles. A decade later we still argue — we just write it down now.
The first post
A 4,000-word teardown of a forgotten PS2 platformer went up at 2am. Forty people read it. We were hooked on the idea that someone, somewhere, cared as much as we did.
Indie Spotlight begins
We launched a monthly column dedicated to Australian and Pacific indie studios. Three of the games we covered went on to win at the Australian Game Developer Awards.
The Fitzroy studio
We took over a narrow shopfront on Gertrude Street and turned the back room into a recording booth. Reader meet-ups every last Thursday of the month started here.
18,000 readers strong
Two new features a week, a weekly podcast, and a members' archive of every review we've ever written. Still no numbered scores — you'll have to actually read it.
The archive
Worlds we've wandered through
How we play
Every review earns its word count
Our process is slow on purpose. Here's how a game goes from our backlog to a published deep-dive.
We finish it properly
No verdicts from three hours of play. We roll credits, chase the side content, and replay key moments before a single sentence is written.
Two editors, one argument
Every draft is challenged by a second writer who disagrees on purpose. If a claim can't survive the back-and-forth, it doesn't make the page.
We publish, then we listen
Corrections are logged in the open and reader replies get answered. A review is a conversation starter, not a final judgment carved in stone.
Reader mail
What the Empire says back
Membership
Back the writing, skip the ads
The blog stays free to read. Members fund the slow reviews and keep the site free of trackers and sponsored scores.
Reader
For the casual lurker
A$0/forever
- Every review, free to read
- Weekly newsletter
- Comment on any article
Empire
For the regulars
A$9/month
- Ad-free, tracker-free reading
- Full members' review archive
- Bonus podcast episodes
- Last-Thursday Fitzroy meet-ups
Patron
For the true believers
A$25/month
- Everything in Empire
- Name in every issue's credits
- Quarterly print zine posted to you
- Vote on our next deep-dive
Get in touch
Pitch us a game, or just say hello
Are you a developer with something we should play, or a reader with a lead? Drop us a line — we read every message and reply within two business days.
- Phone
- +61 3 9419 8742
- [email protected]
- Studio
- 76 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065
- Hours
- Mon–Fri 10am–6pm AEST