ManaPool: Independent PC Game Reviews & Guides
Launched in early September 2010, ManaPool is 100% focused on PC games with no distraction by other gaming platforms whatsoever. We’re a fully independent group of gamers with no affiliation to any publishers, developers, or media networks – unlike some of the other ‘game review’ websites out there. We started ManaPool after we sat together for lunch one day ranting about how biased the gaming industry had really become. The idea was brought forward to do something about that and share our own opinions – and that’s where ManaPool was first born.
All content on ManaPool is available for free, and in the first month of our launch we already attracted thousands of gamers. The site experienced a rapid growth in visitor levels throughout the next months as we continued to add more new content in the form of reviews of released games both old and new, guides and tutorials, interviews with developers and much, much more. Of course, this success has a drawback – the cost of the project has also increased more than we anticipated!
We however remain 100% independent and self-funded which is really our largest challenge. Most of the authors on ManaPool write on a volunteer basis, and almost all of us have normal day jobs. We’d love to run ManaPool full-time (as then we’d be able to make some huge improvements!) but that would be pretty difficult from a financial point of view at the present. Right now, we rely on our partners and visitors to keep the site running – luckily that support has been fantastic!
[title type=”h3″]About our Reviews[/title]
ManaPool uses a rating system between 1 and 10 with a maximum of one decimal. Whilst this is by no means a perfect system, it is by far the easiest, and let’s face it, the contents of a review matter much, much more than an arbitrary score. The rating for any individual game is subject to the personal opinion of the reviewer, and should be taken in light of the comments written in the review itself. If there is a dispute in our team on such a rating, we will occasionally publish a ‘Second Opinion’ review on the game in question.
We also differentiate ourselves by not exclusively sticking to the newest games. We will review any game that is not yet on the website, but we feel is still worth playing. We review such games with the intention of giving the reader an informed opinion whether or not they should still play the game in question. We feel PC Gaming is not just about the newest, flashiest, most awesome graphics, but that games require substance. Value for money is one of our highest criteria!
[title type=”h3″]The Team[/title]
ManaPool wouldn’t exist without our team of passionate authors and contributors. To view the current team, visit ManaPool Team page. Please note this page also contains members of the team who are still on probation as well as people who have contributed to the website a long time ago.
We’re always looking to meet other people who are as passionate about games as we are, so if you’re interested in becoming part of our team, we strongly recommend you check out our careers page.
[title type=”h3″]Advertising[/title]
If you are interested in Advertising on ManaPool, please contact us to discuss the details. We strongly recommend you first visit and read through the page specifically about advertising. If you’re an indie developer, please don’t hesitate to get in touch so we can work on something which is in the interest of both parties.