Marcus D.
Editor-in-Chief · Roguelikes
Fifteen years reviewing and a soft spot for permadeath. Sets the house style and files the harshest verdicts.
Independent games criticism · Melbourne
The dungeon is deep, and we map every corridor of it in full.
Nova Dungeon Frontier is a reader-funded journal covering roguelikes, tactics RPGs, and the studios shaping them. No review scores sold, no early-access hype — just carefully argued writing published from Hardware Lane in the Melbourne CBD.
Our writing is referenced and syndicated across the scene
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How we work
The editorial process, from cold open to published verdict.
Every piece we run passes through four deliberate stages. We hold review copies for as long as a full playthrough demands, cross-check strategy claims against patch notes, and disclose funding sources at the foot of each article. The result is slower publishing and writing you can actually trust.
01
Full-playthrough reviews
We finish the campaign — or clear 30+ hours of a roguelike loop — before a single sentence of verdict is written. Reviews land 7–14 days after launch, never rushed to hit an embargo. Included with any paid membership.
02
Dungeon strategy guides
Boss-by-boss breakdowns, build orders, and seed analysis for the tactics RPGs and roguelikes we cover most. Each guide is versioned against the game's current patch so the advice never quietly goes stale.
03
Studio interviews
Long-form conversations with designers, composers, and solo developers — a good number based here in Victoria and across the wider Australian indie scene. Recorded, transcribed, and published unedited beyond clarity fixes.
04
The Frontier Dispatch
A weekly Thursday newsletter rounding up what we played, what patched, and one overlooked release worth your weekend. Written by a human, capped at a five-minute read, and free to every subscriber.
The masthead
A small, opinionated editorial desk.
Four writers, one shared standard. Between us we have covered the genre since the early days of the local doujin and indie circuit, and we still argue about difficulty curves in the group chat every single day.
Priya S.
Strategy Editor · Tactics RPGs
Writes the build orders and boss guides. Will optimise a turn order until the sun comes up over Port Phillip Bay.
Tom W.
Features · Interviews
Runs our studio interviews and the Frontier Dispatch. Knows half the developers in Fitzroy by first name.
Elena R.
Contributing Critic
Our accessibility and narrative specialist. Argues, correctly, that difficulty options are a design feature and not a compromise.
From the readers
Why members keep renewing.
Membership
Reader-funded, ad-free, priced in AUD.
No paywalled review scores, no sponsored verdicts. Membership keeps the lights on and the writing independent. Cancel any time from your account page.
Monthly
Annual (2 months free)
Dispatch
The free tier
$0
- Weekly Frontier Dispatch newsletter
- Free news and short posts
- Community comment access
Most popular
Frontier
Full journal access
$9/month
- Every full-playthrough review
- All patch-versioned strategy guides
- Complete studio interview archive
- Ad-free reading across all devices
Guild
For teams & classrooms
$24/month
- Up to 6 member seats
- Everything in Frontier
- Monthly members-only live Q&A
- Priority replies from the desk
Get in touch
Pitch a story, or just say hello.
Freelance pitches, review-copy offers, corrections, and membership questions all land in the same inbox and get a reply within two business days. The desk is staffed Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AEST.
- Phone
- +61 3 9650 3178
- Address
- 38 Hardware Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000
- [email protected]
- Hours
- Mon–Fri, 9:00am–5:00pm AEST