Play it fully
We commit real hours — a minimum of 25 to 40 per title — playing on release hardware. Side quests, difficulty options, the messy middle. The whole shape of a game, not the demo.
A gaming blog from Surry Hills
Slow down. Play deeper.
Emerald Battle Warriors is a quiet corner of the internet for players who want more than a score out of ten. We write long, we play slowly, and we take games seriously — one considered review at a time.
A note from the founder
Why we started writing this way
I started Emerald Battle Warriors in a small flat off Crown Street because I was tired of reading reviews written before the credits rolled. A good game reveals itself slowly — thirty hours in, when the systems settle and the story earns its ending. That is when I want to write about it.
Everything here is played to completion, or close to it. No embargo sprints, no scores chased for clicks. Just honest writing about what a game asks of you and whether it was worth the evenings. We publish weekly, on Thursdays, with the coffee still warm.
— Dana Whitlock, founder & editor
How we write
Three steps behind every review
No rushed verdicts. Each piece moves through the same considered process before it reaches you.
Sit with it
We let a game breathe for a few days before writing. First impressions fade; the parts that linger are the ones worth a thousand words. That gap is where honest opinions form.
Write it plainly
No jargon walls, no hype. Clear prose about how a game feels to live inside, who it is for, and what it costs in time and money. Every review is free to read, always.
The writers
Four players, one quiet desk
A small team based in Surry Hills, each with a corner of the medium they love.
Dana Whitlock
Founder & RPG editor
Twelve years reviewing role-playing games. Will always finish the optional dungeon.
Marcus Osei
Indie & narrative games
Hunts for the small, strange releases that never make the front page.
Priya Nair
Multiplayer & hardware
Tests every controller and headset for weeks before a word goes to print.
Leo Fischer
Retro & preservation
Revisits the classics and asks whether they still hold up today.
From our readers
A short film about slow play
Watch: 3 min · Why we play to the end
"The only reviews I trust before buying a full-price game. They caught the pacing problems everyone else missed — saved me from a $99 mistake."
"I read the Thursday post with my morning coffee every week. It's the one gaming site that respects my time instead of fighting for my attention."
"Finally, writing that treats games like the art form they are. Their retro column sent me back to titles I'd written off years ago."
Get in touch
Pitch us, or just say hello
Got a game we should cover, a correction, or a guest essay in mind? We read every message. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm AEST.
- Phone
- +61 2 8399 3257
- [email protected]
- Studio
- 74 Buckingham Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010