About

TIER is a online journal of games criticism. We release issues monthly on independent, obscure, and/or retro games.

Current editors are Grace Benfell and Phoenix Simms.

Matthew Benfell designed our logo. The website is set in EB Garamond and images use DS Weiss-Gotisch.

For comments or questions you can find us at TIEReview@proton.me. We are also on Cohost and Bluesky. Support our work by subscribing to our newsletter or our Patreon.

We Write On The Margins, For The Margins

This can include under-discussed retro titles, hobbyist releases on itch, forgotten flash games, anything and everything on the margins. Our principle criteria are that these are games without sustained critical attention and that they are deep enough that multiple writers can dive into their waters. We write for other writers and readers hungry for this criticism.

We Are Underdogs

Unlike many independent game coverage projects, we are not established pros with large, built-in audiences. Our direct experience in the industry varies from unemployable freelancers to hobbyist bloggers and developers. This is an advantage, not a deficit. We believe there can and should be independent criticism that offers a sustainable space for new (and human) voices. We seek to model and create such a space.

We Are Curious

We reject traditional models of games criticism with values of polish, budget, and replayability. We seek the strange, the uneven, the distant, the forgotten, the seven-out-of-ten, the two-out-of-five.

We Are Haters

We refuse to embrace the culture of positivity, coziness, or complacency that haunts indie games and their coverage. We claim the right to be killjoys, to hate on, to talk shit, and to criticize in every meaningful sense of the word. We believe that hating is a sign of respect. Just as much as love or joy or wonder, hate can focus us and make us take things seriously. We seek to write honestly, to pan or deride even as we exalt or enjoy, sometimes even in the same breath.

We Are Independent

This is an ad-free publication, paid for by our readers and from our own pockets. We seek to divest from games industry connections to military entertainment complex and from gaming publications motivated by clicks and views. We reject the usage of machine learning algorithms to replace human effort.

We Are Sustainable

We have no ambitions to turn this work into a full time job or to expand this project beyond the current scope. The more money we get, the more we can pay everyone! We meet regularly and have systems to replace editorial positions. We may have fundraising goals or short-term projects, but the heart of the website remains to write on the margins, for the margins in a sustainable, long-lasting way.