Review
Neon Hollow — 42 Hours In
Our full playthrough review of the year’s most talked-about metroidvania.
Est. 2014 · Shoreditch, London
Where Pixels Meet Print
A cherry-red booth of game journalism serving up hands-on indie reviews, retro hardware teardowns, and pixel-art longreads — printed monthly, published daily.
Our Story
From a Rivington Street Diner to the Newsstand
We started as a stapled zine handed out at a Shoreditch arcade night. A decade later we still write every review the same way: play it to the end, then tell the truth about it.
- 2014
The First Staple
Two writers, a borrowed risograph, and 200 copies of Issue #1 handed out at Rivington Street arcade nights across Shoreditch.
- 2017
Going Monthly
IronPixelJournal became a proper monthly print run of 3,000 copies, with a permanent review bench of eight critics and a soldering station for hardware pieces.
- 2020
The Daily Desk
We launched daily online coverage, breaking indie previews and patch-note deep dives while keeping the collectible print edition alive.
- 2024
120,000 Readers
Today our reviews reach over 120,000 readers a month and our annual Pixel Awards ballot is voted on by the whole community.
Recent Work
Stories Off the Press
A wall of our recent covers, teardowns, and features — the kind of reporting you can only do when you actually finish the game.
Teardown
Inside a 1983 Arcade Board
We desoldered a JAMMA cabinet to map every restored capacitor.
Longread
The Lost Art of the Loading Screen
A 6,000-word history of pixel-art loaders from cassette to SSD.
Interview
Bedroom Coders of E1
Six East London solo developers on shipping games after midnight.
Membership
Pick Your Booth
Every tier keeps the lights on and the presses rolling. Prices in GBP, cancel any time — no lock-in, no launcher required.
| Pick Your Booth | Free Reader | Arcade Pass — £4.99/mo | Collector's Club — £9.99/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily online reviews & news | |||
| Ad-free reading | |||
| Full digital back-catalogue (2014–now) | |||
| Monthly print edition posted to you | |||
| Early access to reviews (72 hrs) | |||
| Pixel Awards voting & members’ zine | |||
| Support independent games writing | Reader | Backer | Patron |
All prices include UK VAT. Print delivery available across the UK and Ireland.
Good to Know
Frequently Asked Questions
The things readers ask us most about how IronPixelJournal works.
We focus on indie releases, retro and preservation stories, and the odd big-budget game when it does something genuinely new. If a game is on PC, console, or an original arcade board, it can end up on our bench. We do not chase every AAA launch — we cover what we can finish and speak honestly about.
No. We retired numeric scores in 2018 because they flattened everything into an argument about a decimal point. Instead every review ends with a plain "Play it / Wishlist it / Skip it" verdict and a short note on who the game is really for.
Yes. Collector’s Club members get the monthly print edition posted anywhere in the UK and Ireland, and we sell single back-issues from the Rivington Street office. Each issue is risograph-printed in a limited run, so older numbers do sell out.
We buy or request review copies through official channels and always disclose when a game was provided free. Membership and single-issue sales fund the newsroom, not sponsored coverage, so no publisher pays for a verdict.
We do, especially from writers outside the usual circles. Send a short outline and one relevant clip to our contact address below. We read every pitch and aim to reply within two weeks, even when the answer is no.
Say Hello
Drop Us a Line
Pitches, corrections, print orders, or just want to argue about the best 16-bit soundtrack? The newsroom reads everything.
Visit the Newsroom
Phone
+44 20 7729 0147Address
58 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3AY
Email
[email protected]Opening hours
Mon–Fri 10:00–18:00 · Sat 11:00–16:00 · Sun closed