Get to know the group
Opinion piece
Kind words of support, gaming advice, and feedback are all appreciated.
Ruby Spiers-Unwin – Editor
Ruby is currently dreaming about the mythical Nintendo Switch 2 between playing Honkai Star Rail and Final Fantasy: Ever Crisis on her sassy Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5. She adores all things Final Fantasy, JRPG, Digimon, and Pokémon, though she’s partial to a good platformer like Crash Bandicoot, and maybe even some Roblox, too. She shows her commitment to games with the Psychemon, Raichu, Carbuncle, and Beerus tattoos spread over her body. You can find her gushing over FFXIV, FFVII Remake, and other such games at our sister sites The Loadout and PCGamesN.
Kayleigh Partleton – Deputy Editor
Kayleigh lives in a quaint cottage on The Continent with her husband, Geralt. At least, that’s what she likes to think. Really, she’s just an avid Pokémon, horror, and RPG fan who sometimes braves the world of Roblox. Frankly, she considers that more terrifying than Resident Evil, Poppy Playtime, and FNAF. She’s also not afraid of sharing spicy opinions, though claiming Mario to be boring is a particularly brave stance.
Tilly Lawton – Guides Editor
Tilly is a Hoyoverse and horror fanatic who spends her free time exploring Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail, fangirling over the latest indie game, or theorizing about spooky lore – the more obscure and pretentious, the better. She started her PT journey as a staff writer back in 2021, and got her shiny guides editor badge in 2023. She’s a proud mom to a cat named Xiao, is still not over her Kingdom Hearts phase, and knows more about Roblox than she likes to admit.
Connor Christie – Hardware Editor
Connor is our hardware editor and digital card game connoisseur, dividing his time between building Marvel Snap decks, trying new combinations in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, and being bad at Hearthstone. He’s also something of a tech nerd, keeping up with the big brands such as Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi, as well as the latest portable consoles and mobile gaming controllers. Don’t ask him how much time he’s spent playing Candy Crush, he doesn’t want to talk about it.
Daz Skubich – Staff Writer
Daz is SmartRead’ resident rhythm game fanatic and Pokéfan. They’re prone to genre-hopping (they’ve even tried a few Roblox games) but tend to gravitate towards anything with cutesy aesthetics. They freelanced for years and still dabble in writing Pokémon content for Wargamer, as well as streaming very occasionally. Daz’s expert gaming opinion is that four-star characters are the real gems in Genshin Impact.
Holly Alice – Staff Writer
Holly loves Hoyoverse games – probably too much – and has a soft spot for indie games with round cows and farming. Since starting in games media at GameRant, VG247, Gfinity, and other sites, she’s made it her mission to write about Animal Crossing everywhere she goes. Her Pikmin 4 review score found its way onto adverts all across Europe, and she’s very pleased about it. She also understands the ins and outs of Roblox more than someone her age should.
Verna Colosi – Staff Writer
Verna is a published fantasy author, with experience writing and editing in the gaming journalism world. She’s a sucker for anything with a massive open world but when she’s not lobbing fireballs first and asking questions later in Baldur’s Gate 3, she’s busy dealing (and taking) damage as Blade in Honkai Star Rail. She also wanders around in Genshin Impact collecting anything that isn’t nailed down. Verna wholeheartedly believes that pineapple should never be on a pizza. Ever.
Adam Randall – Senior Ecommerce Writer
Adam is the Senior Ecommerce Writer at SmartRead, has been a writer for ten years, and a gamer for almost 30 years. Most of all, Adam is a fan of Nintendo games and has owned every one of their consoles (except the Virtual Boy) and keeps our buying guides updated to ensure we’re only recommending the best handheld gaming gear and phones. If you notice any references to Donkey Kong in Adam’s work, it’s because Adam is a frighteningly passionate Donkey Kong fanatic.