01What we do
Pixcastle reviews pixel-art games for players and families in the UK: platformers, exploration games, sandboxes, roguelites and quiet little stories, all drawn one pixel at a time. We write only about games we have played across many evenings, and every review says how long a visit lasts, where the game saves, who can reach you online, what it costs and which assist settings help.
02Why a castle?
Pixel games grew up in castles: the last level of half the cartridges ever made was a keep on a hill. So we built the site as one. Every reviewed game is a room, the shorter the visit the higher the room, the save room sits between two rooms and the drawbridge comes down at screens off. An evening has a fixed number of torches, one for every fifteen minutes, and nobody can light more.
03Where the name comes from
A pixel is the smallest square on a screen; a castle is where the best adventures end. Pixcastle is a castle built from small squares: a place to find a good game, and to know when to lower the drawbridge. The keep in our logo is our own drawing.
04Who writes the reviews
A small team of long-time players of pixel-art games, from the cartridge years to today’s small studios, together with parents who set up the family settings on every device we mention.
05How the site is paid for
Not by anyone in the games business. There are no adverts, affiliate links, sponsored reviews or products for sale. We host no games, run no accounts and take no payments.
06Conflicts of interest
If a reviewer has a personal or professional link to a game, a studio or a publisher, someone else writes the review and it says so. We accept no gifts, trips, early copies or in-game items in exchange for coverage.
07The artwork
Every picture of a game’s world is an original illustration made for Pixcastle in the spirit of that game’s own look: a chunky mountain at dusk for one, a glowing underground well for another, a sunlit sky island for a third. None of it is official artwork, a screenshot, a character from a game or a real person.
08Why UK English?
British spelling, PEGI labels, prices in pounds and UK support services. No pop-ups, no autoplaying video or sound and no tracking of any kind.
09Corrections
Spotted a mistake? Tell us through hello@pixcastle.co.uk. Every report is checked, and corrections are made on the page itself.