Devon Marsh
Founder & Editor
RPG lifer. Will defend turn-based combat to anyone who'll listen.
Iron & Ash — reviewed
A game blog forged in Toronto
Sharp words about the games worth your evenings.
No score-chasing, no hype cycles. Just a small crew playing through everything from 80-hour RPGs to two-hour indies and telling you the truth about them.
- 412
- reviews published
- 9 yrs
- writing weekly
- 0
- sponsored scores
Founder's note
Started on a spare desk above a ramen shop.
I launched IronBladeKingdom in 2017 from a cramped studio on Queen West, mostly because I was tired of reviews that read like press releases. We play the whole game — every ending, every side quest, every janky boss — before a single word goes up.
Nine years later we're still independent, still allergic to inflated 9/10s, and still writing the kind of piece I wanted to read when I was sixteen and saving for a used console. If a game wasted our time, we'll say so. If it changed our week, we'll tell you why.
— Devon Marsh, founder & editor
How we cover a game
Four passes before we hit publish.
- 01
Play it to completion
Every review starts with a full playthrough — main story plus the meaningful side content. Minimum 20 hours logged before we form an opinion. Screenshots and notes are captured live, never lifted from a trailer.
- 02
Break down the systems
We map the combat, economy, and progression loops and stress-test them: what breaks at hour 40, where the difficulty spikes, whether the build variety is real or cosmetic. Numbers included, jargon translated.
- 03
Check the patch history
A launch-day verdict ages badly. We revisit after major updates, note performance on mid-range hardware, and flag day-one bugs that got fixed — or didn't. Every review carries a 'last tested' date.
- 04
Write it plainly
No filler intros, no five-paragraph runway before the point. One editor, one second read, then it ships. We tell you who a game is for and who should skip it — that's the whole job.
The crew
Six players, one messy group chat.
Priya Rao
Reviews Lead
Soulslikes and metroidvanias. Owns nine controllers, uses two.
Marcus Bell
Indie Scout
Combs itch.io every weekend so you don't have to. Cozy-game apologist.
Hana Ito
Performance & Tech
Frame-times, thermals, and 'does it run on a laptop' testing.
Cole Fraser
Video Producer
Cuts our playthroughs into something you'll actually finish.
Sofia Nunes
Community Editor
Runs the mailbag and keeps our comment section civil-ish.
Watch
Playthroughs, unfiltered.
Our video crew turns every big review into a tight 12-minute cut — no ten-minute intro, no fake outrage. Here's what readers have said about the channel.
Latest episode12:41
Iron & Ash — 40 hours, honest verdict
“The only channel where the reviewer clearly finished the game before talking. That 'last tested' date is genius.”
“Bought a game on their word, skipped three on it. Saved me at least $200 this year. Canadian pricing breakdowns are clutch.”
“Priya's Soulslike review talked me through the difficulty honestly instead of gatekeeping. Finished my first one because of it.”
Contact
Tip, pitch, or just want to argue about endings?
Story tips, review requests, and press keys all land in the same inbox. We read everything and reply to most within two business days.
- Phone
- +1 (437) 915-2847
- [email protected]
- Find us
- 1132 Queen Street West, West Queen West, Toronto, ON M6J 1J4
- Desk hours
- Mon–Fri, 10:00–18:00 ET
West Queen West
Our desk sits in West Queen West, a short walk from Trinity Bellwoods Park.