The Ultimate ON Double Pack
The Compendium Edition is the definitive way to experience ON, featuring both Volume One and Volume Two in a beautifully designed premium slipcase. Choose your preferred cover for each volume and own a complete, collectable celebration of gaming’s past, present, and future. Crafted with high-quality materials and bold design, this edition is perfect for those who appreciate exceptional games writing in a luxurious print format.
Experience games journalism at its finest
ON is the ultimate celebration of gaming's past, present and future. We give the very best writers in the industry freedom to write their dream feature and combine those words with bold and experimental design in a luxury journal.
A truly premium piece of physical media to keep, collect and take your time to enjoy; the sort of experience that can only be achieved in print.
Own a luxurious part of gaming history
ON is luxury piece of physical media, printed on high-end paper stock. A product that feels as at home on the coffee table as it does on the bookshelf.
Whether you’re treating yourself or searching for the perfect gift, ON makes an unforgettable present for any enthusiast, celebrating the passion and creativity of the gaming world.
All 8 covers for ON: Volume One are also available in the Volume One: Complete Collection and the Volume Two: Complete Collection.
Press Coverage
“Loaded with sumptuous visuals, this is a hefty, joyous celebration of print media from some exceptional editorial talent.” - Tony Mott, Edge
"Luxurious and engrossing, ON is a visual and cerebral treat for anyone interested in reading the very best video game writers on the planet, let loose on their passions." - Tom Phillips, Eurogamer
"Drips class yet feels weighty and authoritative; the writers involved are quite simply some of the best in the business, and ON gives them the freedom to let their creative talents truly shine" - Damien McFerran, Time Extension
"ON bottles the creative energy of the video-game medium by supercolliding the industry's most incisive commentators with bold editorial design and extravagant production values. Fresh delights on every spread." - Jason Killingsworth, Tune & Fairweather
Product specifications
- Available in your choice of 8 different covers
- Over 200 full colour pages per book
- Perfect bound
- Lithoprint
- 350gsm quality uncoated cover paper
- 135gsm high quality uncoated inner paper
- Dimensions 280mm x 210mm x 19mm
- Printed in England
- ON: Volume One: ISBN 978-1-0687883-0-7
- ON: Volume Two: ISBN 978-1-0687883-1-4
Andrew P Hind
ON is the brainchild of creative director Andrew P Hind, a veteran print designer renowned for his 20-year career as art editor for Edge, the globally renowned game magazine, and his work at boutique book publisher Tune & Fairweather.
Read an interview with Andrew P Hind here.
Jen Simpkins ON playing dress-up
Game developer and writer Jen Simpkins is fascinated by the complex rituals of personal style, but bounced off the latest instalment of Style Boutique in under a day. It’s made her wonder: where are the dress-up games with the depth and intrigue of real-life fashion?
Read an interview with Jen Simpkins here.
Keza MacDonald ON games that changed Nintendo
Keza MacDonald has been besotted with Nintendo since the days of the SNES. In our first issue, she looks back at some of the most important games in a beloved catalogue, and ponders why Nintendo’s games remain synonymous with fun itself.
Read an interview with Keza MacDonald here.
Yussef Cole ON life, death and Cyberpunk 2077
During the pandemic, Yussef Cole and his partner, a psychoanalyst, found themselves pondering how certain games provided fascinating insights into how we think about death. In our first issue, Cole focuses in on Cyberpunk 2077 in particular.
Read an interview with Yussef Cole here.
Christian Donlan ON handheld launch puzzle games
It’s been true since the days of the Game Boy: no handheld games console is ready to launch without a stellar puzzle game. For our first issue, Christian Donlan picks over some of his favourite examples, taking us from Columns right up to Puyo Puyo Tetris.
Read an interview with Christian Donlan here.
Margaret Robertson ON Japan’s paper play pioneers
In a quest to understand her new home in Tokyo, Margaret Robertson starts with a piece of paper and unravels it to reveal an intriguing and often ignored aspect of Japanese game-making. In our first issue you can read her fascinating piece on Japan’s paper play pioneers.
Read an interview with Margaret Robertson here.
Keith Stuart ON the Sega Model 1 arcade board
Keith Stuart wants to take readers on a tour of one of SEGA’s most charismatic creations, the Sega Model 1 arcade board. It gave us the likes of Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter, and helped usher in an era of graceful minimalism that survives to this day.
Read an interview with Keith Stuart here.
Nathan Brown ON the meditative joys of run-based games
Nathan Brown favourite genre of videogames is so of-the-moment that it doesn’t yet have its own Steam tag. In our first issue, he takes us through the dizzying, full-pelt world of run-based games, which offer a full campaign experience with endless variation in well under an hour
Read an interview with Nathan Brown here.
Keith Stuart ON horror games
Keith Stuart looks at the horror games of the 32-bit era of the mid-to-late 1990s in all their weird, disturbing glory. What a time to be a horror fan: Scream was in the cinema and game designers were relishing improved tech specs and real-time 3D visuals allowing for greater immersion and scarier experiences. Keith also examines how this period's rush of creativity continues to inspire designers today, taking in games like Crow Country, Forbidden Solitaire, and Fear the Spotlight, and talking to designers like Thomas Grip, Dan Pinchbeck and Sam Barlow.
Read an interview with Keith Stuart here.
Yussef Cole ON Stalker
The STALKER series transports players to the irradiated wastelands of Chernobyl, while drawing on literary and cinematic influences that go back to the Strugatskys' novel Roadside Picnic, first published in 1972. Yussef Cole examines the series' complex lineage and its vital relevance in the present day, while charting the fault lines of the games' unusual divided soul, asking existential questions while also providing a near-endless supply of monsters to shoot.
Read an interview with Yussef Cole here.
Chris Tapsell ON the Pokémon that got away
A fan since childhood, Chris Tapsell explores the myths and mysteries that give Pokémon its magic. In a quest to solve one of the series' most enduring mysteries surrounding the enigmatic Mew, Chris speaks to a Pokémon archaeologist and the founder of a kind of videogame book club for the close-reading of games. What he uncovers is a vital trace of the series' true spirit and fresh insight into its origins.
Caelyn Ellis ON the Playstation’s 30th anniversary
In honour of the PS1's thirtieth birthday, Caelyn Ellis looks back at Sony's first console from a distinctly personal perspective, traveling back to her memories of the mid-1990s and a machine that pulled her away from computers and into the orbit of consoles. In the history books, Sony's classic grey box is known as the console that changed everything, but what did it feel like to yearn for a PS1 and then bring it home and plug it in?
Keza MacDonald ON music games
For the second issue of ON, Keza MacDonald explores the soaring, looping, endlessly kinetic world of music games. These are the games that feel like they are music, ranging from Beatmania and Guitar Hero to Elektroplankton, jubeat and Rez. By examining these beloved classics - and by exploring memories of the Japanese arcade scene that birthed many of them - Keza asks, what is it that makes music and videogames such natural partners, and what happens when game designers immerse themselves in sound?
Read an interview with Keza MacDonald here.
Jeremy Peel ON the history of videogames via Wolfenstein
Few series have been reinvented as many times as Wolfenstein. More than once, it’s led the industry. And when it hasn’t, it’s acted as a mirror - reflecting the damaging design and production trends of triple-A. Going all the way back to 1981 and Escape from Castle Wolfenstein, Jeremy Peel tells the story of a truly classic series that was always ahead of the curve and explores how it's helped to shape the wider world of games, one new idea at a time.
Christian Donlan ON paths
Inspired by a trip to a museum, Chris Donlan ponders the act of path-finding in videogames. How does the simple process of putting one foot in front of another change the experience of exploring a game world, and what can the right path do to make an old game feel new again?
Read an interview with Christian Donlan here.
Buy ON: Compendium now
