Independent, by design.
PlayDocker is a gaming publication that answers to its readers and no one else. We were founded in 2022 on a simple frustration: too much games coverage reads like marketing, and too many scores arrive with no method behind them. This is our attempt to do it differently.
Dock it, break it down, show your work.
When we put a number on a game, we’re making a promise to the person deciding whether to spend their money and their weekend on it. We take that seriously. Every game we review is played to completion — not previewed, not skimmed, not judged from a trailer. We “dock” it against a public rubric, system by system, so you know exactly what an 82 means and what separates it from an 88.
We don’t run paid reviews, we don’t trade scores for early access, and we label anything a publisher gave us for free. If that costs us a few exclusives, we can live with it. Our loyalty is to the reader on the other side of the screen.
The tier scale
The Team
Started PlayDocker in 2022 to fix what she felt was broken about review scores: numbers with no method behind them. Every rubric on this site has her fingerprints on it.
Runs the reviews desk and owns the scoring rubric. Believes a 100-point scale only earns trust if you can show your work, and he always shows his.
Tracks studio announcements, patch notes and platform shifts from Toronto. Two sources or it does not ship — no exceptions, no rumour mill.
Reverse-engineers game systems for a living. If a build has a breakpoint or a boss has a tell, Rafael has it on a spreadsheet before the guide goes live.
Long-form and indie coverage. Fascinated by why a game feels the way it feels, and by the small teams the front page tends to skip.
Covers strategy, tactics and anything with a systems layer thick enough to get lost in. Reviews the machine under the hood, not the trailer.
Our Story
The first review
PlayDocker starts as a single-page blog run out of a shared flat in Toronto, publishing one honest review a week — and one public rubric to score them against.
The desk grows
A news desk and a guides section join the reviews. The 100-point scale gets its letter tiers, and we’ve stuck to the method ever since.
Incorporated
We formally incorporate as PlayDocker Media Inc. and move into an office on Spadina Avenue as monthly readership climbs into five figures.
Still independent
640+ games reviewed, 9 people on the team, and not a single paid review. The mission hasn’t changed.