AUS INDIE SHOWCASE 2022 WINNERS

Developed by: WeMat Studios
Genre: Action RPG Roguelike
Platform: Windows

A funny, silly and irreverent action RPG roguelike. A mix of ‘the Office’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ with an animated cartoon like aesthetic.

The office has fallen into darkness. A ‘toxic’ workplace has transformed the once happy employees into dark and dangerous creatures.The office waits for a hero. You! Become the Box Knight and bring light back to this dark place.

By day you're just a normal office worker, but when the clock hits 5pm on a Friday you become the Box Knight - Protector of the office realm. Fighter of evil beings, deliverer of beers, wine and non-alcoholic beverages to your fellow workers in need. A champion of ‘culture’ in the now blighted workplace. Level by level, department by department you liberate the office of the toxic scourge that has plagued the once great company. Your end goal, battle your way up the Office tower and defeat the CEO in glorious battle or die trying...and do it all over again next week.

Developed by: Studio Folly
Genre: Word / Puzzle
Platform: iOS

Gubbins is a friendly puzzle game where players place tiles to construct words, with the help and hindrance of wildcard modifiers called Gubbins.

Minimalist typography alongside mischievous cartoons serve as a kooky canvas for moreish wordplay. It’s essentially Solitaire meets Scrabble with hilarious friends wreaking havoc.

Developed by: Misadventurous
Genre: Point n Click Adventure
Platform: Windows

Repella Fella is set in a future, post-apocalyptic Australia. It tells the story of 3 main characters as they work towards a better life. How they reach that life is up to you. Shoot, stab, lie and maim your way through any problem that presents itself. Absurdist humor, and branching options making for a highly replayable experience.

Developed by: Melonhead Games
Genre: Platformer, Arcade, Party, Speedrunner
Platform: Console

ROOFTOP RENEGADE puts you in the Chrono-Kicks of Svetlana, a hoverblading outlaw with the ability to portal through time. Take on the evil Globacorp by stealing scattered time crystals before they catch you.

BOOST, GRIND and WARP your way through challenge levels, generated levels, and chaotic local multiplayer, all while Globacorp's attack squad chase you down!

Developed by: Witch Beam
Genre: Puzzle
Platform: Windows

Tempopo is a contemplative puzzle game about planning & execution in which you rescue musical flowers across sky islands.

Each puzzle takes place on its own island with the lovable Tempopo sprites following each instruction you place to achieve their goal.

The Tempopo have powerful abilities but without your guidance, they will fall prey to the many hazards throughout Atmo.

Rescuing the lost flowerbed band will fill your sky island garden with joyful music, as each bloom contributes its musical element.

Developed by: ArkimA
Genre: Puzzle Esport
Platform: Windows

Welcome to the jumble! TopplePOP is a physics puzzle party with bendy animal acrobats on bungee cords for 1-4 players in solo, co-op & PvP. Master precision eSport skills to dominate team battles & racing leaderboards! -Or don't! With all-ages assist-modes, bouncy couch co-op & chill zen puzzles.

Developed by: 3rd Place Games Pty Ltd
Genre: Cooperative Roguelike
Platform: Tabletop

Aethermon: Tower of Darkness is a narrative-heavy co-operative roguelike board game for 2-5 players, that plays in about 1 hour.

Players take the role of a band of adventurers climbing the fabled Tower of Darkness to put a stop to the evil Hand of Erebos before they unleash an ancient malevolent power.

In Aethermon: Tower of Darkness, players bond with their own elemental monsters known as Aethermon. Every player Aethermon has access to a unique deck of Battle Cards, with each of the nine elements specialising in their own mechanics. For example, Sun Aethermon ignore opponents’ Armour; Fire Aethermon discard cards to enhance their abilities; and Sky Aethermon combine attacks over multiple turns.

The story of the Tower of Darkness unfolds via a randomised deck of choose-your-own-adventure-style quests that can gain players support items, artefacts or further the success of their allies.

Players must choose when to battle and when to quest; what sacrifices they are willing to make for their allies; and how much they will risk for the tower’s relics. Can you make it to the top?

Developed by: Mauii Makes Games
Genre: Strategy, Space, Skirmish
Platform: Tabletop

Fight for control of the Pixel Star, in an easy to learn 2-4 player space skirmish game, with unique dice action selection and little pixel ships that can fit in your pocket and be played on any table.

Build your own fleet of pixel ships, pop them out of their stat cards, roll all the action dice for the round, and take turns claiming dice to assign to your fleet. Keep an eye on all the actions available each round though, as you and all your opponents are taking from the same pool of dice! Easy to teach and playable on any table, with the salt and pepper for asteroids if need be*, Pixel Star is the perfect skirmish game to throw in your pocket for the next game night or local tournament.

*Salt and Pepper not tournament legal.

Developed by: Tin Star Games
Genre: Creative Game, Story Game
Platform: Tabletop

18 cards. 18 minutes. No GM. And the heist of a lifetime. The Score is a unique kind of story-creation game unlike anything you've ever played. Gather your crew, pick your target and get in and out in under 18 minutes - guaranteed.

Developed by: Quokka Games
Genre: Strategic Fishing, Set Collection Card Game
Platform: Tabletop

Yum Cha is a strategic fishing and set collection card game themed around the popular Chinese brunch, featuring adorable anthropomorphic delicacies. It is a straightforward card game, where players make simple decisions to collect their favourite and most unique Yum Cha and fight for the honour to pay the bill!

Yum Cha is a two to six player game. The objective of the game is to accumulate the most points after four rounds. Players can strategically collect small, medium, big and dessert dim sums to wrap up the game quickly, or go for glory and collect the super, special, and top dim sums to score big. Alternatively, players can play safe and grab some takeaway. But there’s a catch! Play too safe, and you might never win!

Discover and learn about some mouth-watering dishes from our menu and impress your friends with its Chinese name next time you order Yum Cha. Enjoy a good time drinking tea with your loved ones; is what Yum Cha is all about. ‘Yum Cha’ literally means to drink tea!

Developed by: Alta
Genre: Multiplayer VR RPG
Platform: Windows

A Township Tale is an open-world RPG designed specifically for VR. Explore the world, master your craft, and forge your tale.

Developed by: Spider Nest Games
Genre: Card Game
Platform: Windows

A roguelite card game where you craft your deck, swapping in and out cards as you progress, perfecting the ultimate combos. Upgrade & customize your cards with Void Stones, infusing them with new abilities to help defeat the insidious minions that stand between you and The Void.

Developed by: DragonBear Studios
Genre: Simulation, Action, Co-op
Platform: Windows

Run a Magical Inn with friends!

Taram's family Inn has been stolen by an evil wizard! To reclaim your family's legacy, team up with friends, manage your inn, brew potions, cook, and fight in a magical co-op inn adventure for 1-4 players.

Developed by: Ian MacLarty
Genre: Simulation
Platform: Windows

Mars First Logistics is a physics-based open-world simulation game, where you design, build and control your own mechanical creations to deliver important packages between colony stations on Mars. Earn credits, unlock new technology, upgrade your vehicle and tame the hostile Martian landscape.

Developed by: Jordan Mochi
Genre: Survival Horror, Action Adventure
Platform: Windows

During the First World War, a lone French soldier must navigate twisted trenches, scavenge for limited supplies and solve complex puzzles - all whilst fighting for survival in the midst of mankind’s most brutal and horrifying conflict. CONSCRIPT is a new take on classic survival horror.

Developed by: Mellow Games
Genre: Narrative Platformer
Platform: Windows

Go on a journey through a woman’s mind from birth to death in this emotional story platformer. Climb the Tower of Life and gather the pieces of Blueberry's shattered memories, find the missing ones and unravel the mystery of her trauma. 

Developed by: James Allen
Genre: Car Racing
Platform: Tabletop

Feel the thrill of racing like never before with DRIFT, the next level in tabletop racing games for 2-4 players, featuring the exciting world of drift racing!

Unlike most other racing games, DRIFT simulates the feeling of driving a car using a completely innovative movement mechanic called the TrajecTile system.

On a player’s turn, they use a uniquely shaped set of tiles, TrajecTiles, to plot their car’s movement. The tiles represent the gears of a car. The lower the gear tile played, the shorter the tile but the further it can pivot in the previous tile. So, in first gear, although the car is not moving very far, it has the most maneuverability, while in 5th gear, the car is moving quite far but has the least maneuverability.

Special tiles allow the players to drift their car through turns, earning Edge Points they can then spend to break certain rules of the game and get even further ahead in an all-out race to the finish line! Drift has been a part of the PAX Collaboratory for 2018 and 2019 and was the winner of the Tabletop Game Designers of Australia Prototype of the Year award for 2019

Developed by: Two19
Genre: Card Game
Platform: Tabletop

Kingless is a fast-paced, easy to learn, hard to master card game. Kingless is designed to capture the imagination as you and 1-5 friends compete for the highest score while sabotaging each other using Dwarf themed cards with rich varied artwork that brings the game to life. Kingless offers a game experience that will have your table yelling and laughing for mostly the right reasons...

Each player has a hand composed of Dwarves, Events and Items drawing from the deck each turn or when certain cards are played. Dwarves and Items have an associated score which when in play counts towards a player's total score. Events can be used to remove other players' Dwarves or even make them your own. Turns are taken sequentially until an end game condition is reached, leaving all players a final turn to either push for the highest score or drag their friends down to their level.

Developed by: Guf Studios
Genre: Tactile 3D Strategy
Platform: Tabletop

Floating Floors is a tactile 3D strategy game balance and cunning for 2 to 4 ninjas in 30 minutes. Become the architect of your own domain, creating a labyrinth of floating floorboards for you and your rival to cross as you compete to be the first to claim your opponent’s Bansen seals. But beware, if you misstep and fell to the depths below you must pay penalty to your opponent.

Each turn you will be collecting Jutsu pieces to build platforms for your floating floorboards, using them to create paths across the top of those floorboards, or placing them to counterbalance floorboards to provide you with safe passage across the domains. Each ninja must stay camouflaged on their path of shadow or light, only walking across spaces or Jutsu of their colour.

The first ninja to make their way across the domain and claim all four Bansen seals from their opponent wins the game.

Award winning Australian game designer Keith D Franks III shows off a special collection of released and in development games in an exclusive first look just for PAX!