The Arcade Review publishes essays, criticism, interviews and reviews on experimental videogames and the digital arts. Freeware games, art games, non-games, and small indie games; obscure and challenging works that push our expectations of what videogames can accomplish.  The magazine aims to provide a space for active and critical discussion around videogames, art, politics and craft. We want to nurture a useful dialogue for those who engage with art and its discontents.

For a year now, we've been selling quarterly issues through our website and Gumroad, and publishing a diverse set of writers from various backgrounds and perpsectives. We've been lucky enough to publish critics like Lana Polansky, Line Hollis, Krish Raghav, John Brindle, Brendan Vance and thecatamites. And we've also interviewed several artists and game-makers: Amy Dentata of A Night in The Woods, Lilith of Crypt Worlds: Your Darkest Desires Come True, and Titouan Millet of A Cosmic Forest.

With the help of artists, writers, editors and friends, we've painstakingly brought the magazine to moderate success. But I want to do more. I want to expand our scope in nearly every direction: new editorial sections, a paid staff of arts writers, and a better compensation system—flat fee payments that are more stable, with higher pay for writers.

More money would also mean a more functional website, and a real arts budget (!) that would allow us to commission more artists and improve our internal design. With a higher budget, we could accomplish so much more. The Arcade Review could expand and grow in immeasurable ways.


Why This Is Important
I have seen over the past couple of years a surging interest in smaller videogames outside of dense commercial spheres. There are so many festivals now, from Toronto to Europe. There are curatorial websites like Warp Door and Forest Ambassador, and emerging physical spaces that focus on videogame exhibits.

Clearly there are people who yearn for games that do more than act as 30-hour consumer funhouse machines . And yet, there are so few critical bodies that are focused on producing writing around these smaller games. There's a big hole here, and it isn't being filled by websites that are more interested in cycling hype than producing substantive work meant to last.

We've always aimed to publish writing that has perspetive, and create a space where readers can find out about games they haven't heard of, or learn about art, history, philosophy, and their relationship to games. With support, the AR can be a strong alternative space for alternative games.

Our New Reviews Section

Along with our usual set of essays, we want to publish a new section for reviews of various small games and digital art, chosen by our staff of writers. These reviews aren't meant to be consumer guides. We're not here to tell you what to buy, what is good or bad or what you should be hype about. We aspire to reviews that lean towards close readings, more interested in exploration than evaluation, more interested in understanding games than holding them up to a rubric.

How will my subscription work?

The Arcade Review is a quarterly that publishes four times a year, so we would charge on Patreon four times every year. On the day of our issue release, we will send you a copy in .pdf format. If you pledge $10, you will be automatically listed to receive a copy of our next issue! It's the recommended pledge, but we have plenty of rewards above and below it.

Thank You!
And please feel free to explore our rewards, our milestone goals, and take a look at previews of our most recent issues! This magazine is so important to us, and we think it can do amazing work for videogames, arts, and culture. If this interests you, consider pledging, because this can't exist without your support.