Deep-sea gaming journalism
Surface with the stories beneath the hype.
LunarGameChronicle.blog dives past launch-day noise into long-form reviews, patch autopsies, and the indie worlds glowing quietly in the dark. Written from a back room in Fitzroy, Melbourne.
640+
Reviews published
9 yrs
Chronicling the deep
31k
Weekly readers
Our current
A slow descent, marked by tide lines.
We never chased scoops. We chased the games that kept glowing after the servers went quiet — and built a record of them, year by year.
2017
First dispatch
Started as a single weekly newsletter typed on a laptop above a Brunswick Street cafe, covering the Melbourne indie scene nobody else was reviewing.
2020
The long-form turn
We dropped scored reviews entirely and committed to 3,000-word deep dives, giving each release the room it actually needed to be understood.
2022
Fitzroy studio
Moved into a shared studio on Johnston Street, added two contributing editors, and launched our monthly patch-autopsy series.
2026
31,000 readers deep
Still independent, still reader-funded, now reaching thirty-one thousand players a week across Australia and beyond.
How a piece is made
Four dives before we publish.
Play to completion
No half-finished takes. We log 20–60 hours per title and never review from a preview build alone.
Interview the makers
Where possible we speak to developers to understand intent before we judge execution.
Draft & peer-check
Every long-form piece is read by a second editor for fairness, accuracy, and blind spots.
Publish & revisit
We date-stamp updates and return to reassess games after major patches and expansions.
From the archive
Worlds we have swum through.
Reader voices
Signals from the surface.
"The Abyssal Drift review talked me out of a refund and into 80 hours. No other outlet bothered to explain what the game was actually doing."
Mara T.
Carlton, VIC · March 2026
"I read the patch autopsies before I touch an update now. They caught a save-corruption bug two weeks before the studio acknowledged it."
Dylan R.
Perth, WA · January 2026
"As a small dev, getting a fair, thorough write-up from Lunar meant more than any launch trailer. They played it to the end before saying a word."
Sofia L.
Fitzroy, VIC · November 2025
Before you ask
Questions from the depths.
Do you take money from publishers?
Never for coverage. LunarGameChronicle.blog is entirely reader-funded through our AUD $6/month membership. We accept review copies but disclose every one, and paid placement is not something we offer at any price.
Why don't you use review scores?
A number flattens everything that makes a game worth playing or avoiding. Since 2020 we've written conclusions instead of scores, so you know exactly who a game is for. It takes longer to read, and that's the point.
Can I pitch a game to be reviewed?
Yes, and we especially welcome Australian and Aotearoa indie developers. Email us at the address below with a build key and a short note. We read every pitch, though our long-form format means we can only cover a handful each month.
How often do you publish?
Two long-form reviews a week, plus a monthly patch-autopsy and an indie spotlight. Members get the Sunday dispatch email a full day before anything goes public on the site.
Send up a flare
Join the dispatch or drop us a line.
Pitch a game, ask about membership, or just tell us what you're playing. We answer everything from our Fitzroy studio, usually within two business days.
Phone
+61 3 9939 1748Studio
61 Johnston Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065
Hours
Mon–Fri, 10am–6pm AEST
61 Johnston Street
Fitzroy VIC 3065 · Melbourne, Australia