The Team

Four People in Brisbane Who Finish Games

PhantomGrid launched in 2022 because we kept reading reviews that clearly stopped at the tutorial.

Why We Exist

The Rule That Started Everything

PhantomGrid started with one rule: no review goes live until the reviewer has finished the game. Not "played for a while." Finished. Credits rolled, post-game content sampled, ANZ servers tested if the game has online modes.

That rule has never been broken. It's why our review queue is slower than most outlets and why our scores occasionally surprise people who've only read the first eight hours of coverage elsewhere.

We cover ANZ esports because the scene is real, the players are serious, and it deserves documentation that isn't an afterthought at the end of an international recap.

PhantomGrid workspace
2022
Founded
380+
Games Reviewed
80+
Events Covered
Zero
Publisher Funding
The People

Who's Writing

👁
Sam Vickers
Editor in Chief

Former game tester, current critic. Specialises in stealth and RPG. Has a rule about not reviewing games he hasn't finished that he's never broken in four years.

⚡
Priya Nair
Lead Reviewer

Strategy and puzzle specialist. Ranked in the top 200 of two competitive titles. Reviews games at 2am because that's when Brisbane's ANZ servers are cleanest.

🏆
Declan Walsh
Esports Editor

Covered ANZ competitive gaming since 2019. Attended every major domestic LAN since 2020. Knows every bracket format and which ones the organisers actually follow.

đŸ•šī¸
Yuki Tanaka
Action & Indie

Action and indie specialist. Has reviewed over 150 games for PhantomGrid. Based in Gold Coast. Holds the unofficial record for most hours logged in a single review: 94.

Standards

How We Work

⏱
Credits Must RollNo review is published without completing the main campaign. For RPGs and open-world titles, the threshold is typically 50–70 hours. We don't score games we haven't finished.
đŸšĢ
No Publisher HardwareWe purchase our own review copies or use standard review codes. No publisher has ever provided hardware, travel, or hospitality to our team.
đŸ‡ĻđŸ‡ē
ANZ Server TestingOnline performance is always tested on ANZ servers. Australian players deserve to know how a game runs in their region, not on US or EU infrastructure.
📝
Scores Are FinalScores are never adjusted post-publication except to correct factual errors, which are disclosed with a dated note. Publisher complaints do not change scores.
Join the Team

Freelance Reviewers Welcome

We're looking for writers who play seriously and write clearly. If you have a genre you know inside out, get in touch.

Get in Touch