Quarnovelis Games celebrates the bold indie studios pushing storytelling and mechanics into uncharted territory. Deep dives into narrative puzzles, genre-bending experiments, and the voices reshaping games from bedrooms across the UK and beyond.
Explore the ArchiveBrowse our hand-picked selection of indie titles, in-depth reviews, and design essays that celebrate the craft behind small-studio releases.
Quarnovelis introduced me to Gorogoa and Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood—games I'd completely missed. The way they write about narrative structure and mechanics made me appreciate these titles on a completely different level. Been recommending it to everyone.
Finally, a gaming journal that treats indie puzzlers with the serious critical attention they deserve. Their piece on Braid's narrative layering was genuinely revelatory. This is essential reading for anyone who cares about game design.
As someone making my own experimental game, reading Quarnovelis feels like being part of a community that actually understands what we're trying to do. They don't dismiss weird mechanics—they celebrate them. Exactly what the indie scene needed.
The depth of analysis here is remarkable. They'll dig into how a single puzzle mechanic shapes an entire narrative, or trace how a studio's design philosophy evolved across three releases. This is games writing at its best.
I appreciate how they mix the indie darlings everyone knows about with truly hidden gems. Found Return of the Obra Dinn through their coverage and it's become one of my all-time favourites. Their curation is impeccable.
Quarnovelis reminds me why I fell in love with games in the first place. Their essays on experimental mechanics and narrative design feel like conversations with other passionate players, not marketing speak. Invaluable.
A mix of celebrated indie achievements and underrated narratives worth your time.
A masterclass in environmental storytelling and puzzle design. How Mobius Digital crafted a universe where exploration itself becomes the narrative, demanding nothing but curiosity from the player.
Cardboard Computer's lyrical meditation on American life and digital existence. We revisit how interactive fiction transcended text-based gaming and reshaped what narrative-driven games could achieve.
Adam Robinson-Yu's deceptively simple climbing game is a study in how modest mechanics and gorgeous minimalist art can create profound emotional resonance without conflict or time pressure.
Zachtronics' nostalgic dive into a fictional 1990s internet. We explore how garish web design, hidden ARG elements, and bizarre user-generated content became a vehicle for genuine social commentary.
A vertical tower-climbing adventure where each floor rewrites the rules of language and communication. We dig into how Runestorm Studios weaponized narrative design to interrogate meaning itself.
A quiet gem about cartography and colonialism. How this small studio turned the act of mapping into a poignant reflection on erasure, agency, and whose stories get told in video games.
We write for players who think deeply about games.
We celebrate narrative innovation and experimental mechanics over AAA blockbusters. Every piece is written for players who seek bold creative voices and unconventional design.
We dig into how games work—the architecture of puzzles, how narrative weaves through mechanics, why a studio's choices matter. Critical thinking over scores and stars.
We're rooted in London but celebrate indie studios worldwide. Our archive spans breakthrough releases from Japan, Europe, Australia, and emerging voices from underrepresented regions.
We mix celebrated indie landmarks with hidden gems our readers recommend. This isn't a corporate algorithm—it's a conversation between people who genuinely care about the medium.