Deep-space RPG
Starbound Exile — 40 hours in
A branching survival RPG that finally makes fuel scarcity feel like drama, not spreadsheet.
Dispatches from the dark side of the map
Charting the games that live past the edge of the light.
Shadow Moon Frontier is a Surry Hills game blog for deep-space RPGs, indie roguelikes, and the strange corners of the release calendar. Long-form reviews, honest patch notes, and no hype we don't mean.
- Reviews published
- 640+
- Monthly readers
- 210k
- Years on the beat
- 9
Coverage syndicated & referenced across the scene
Nebula Weekly
PixelSouth
Orbit Press
RogueDrop
Antipodal Play
The Long Save
Membership tiers
Read for free, or ride shotgun on the frontier.
Every review stays free to read. Members fund the deep-dives and get the extras — early embargo notes, the Friday audio log, and a say in what we cover next. Prices in AUD, billed monthly, cancel anytime.
| What you get | DrifterFree | NavigatorA$9/mo | CartographerA$19/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full review archive | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ad-free reading | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Friday audio log & patch breakdown | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Early embargo review drafts | — | — | ✓ |
| Vote on the monthly deep-dive | — | — | ✓ |
What we cover
Pick a beat and follow it into the dark.
Indie roguelike
Ashfall Loop — the run that broke me
Tight, cruel, generous with unlocks. We map every seed and the meta that grew around it.
Hardware
The handheld that runs everything, cool
Six weeks, 30 games, one thermal test rig in a Surry Hills flat. Here's what held up.
Deep-space RPG
Every ending of Moonwake, ranked
Twelve endings, three that matter, one that quietly rewrites the first ten hours.
Reader voices
The comments section we're actually proud of.
"I trust maybe three review sites on the planet. Shadow Moon Frontier is the one I read before I trust the other two. They flagged the Ashfall Loop difficulty curve a week before anyone else."
Mara T. — Newtown, NSW
Navigator member since March 2023
By the numbers
Nine years of playing so you don't have to.
3,900+
Hours logged in review builds last year
640+
Full reviews in the public archive
0
Paid placements — ever, on principle
210k
Readers who drop by every month
Get in touch
Pitch a story, or just say hi.
Review codes, tips, corrections, or a good argument about endgame balance — the desk is open. We answer everything within two business days, Sydney time.
- Phone
- +61 2 8399 0715
- [email protected]
- Studio
- 53 Reservoir Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010
- Desk hours
- Mon–Fri, 10:00–18:00 AEST