PAX RISING

PAX Rising is home to more than 100 independent tabletop and video games from every corner of Australia, New Zealand and around the world at PAX Aus in October.

Here's a preview of just some of the indie gems joining us this year!

We'll have more details coming soon. 

REAPRIEVE - 10PM Club

REAPRIEVE - 10PM Club

At REAPRIEVE, the sole purpose of a grim reaper is their desk job. Every soul has a story - and you're tasked with deleting it.

Rawring Candies - 50 Seconds Studio

Rawring Candies - 50 Seconds Studio

Play as a chaotic candy maker and work with your friends to craft delicious candies and feed them to your hungry dragon. Juggle ingredients, operate quirky machinery, and take care of gremlins as you race against the clock before the Monster consumes Candy Land. 

Birds - A Game Called Birds

Birds - A Game Called Birds

BIRDS is an exciting new board game that celebrates Australian birdlife. It’s a lively game of strategy, sabotage and sheer luck. Hatched on a bushwalk in Tasmania that went a little cuckoo, the game pits the crafty against the cunning in a race to 80 points across the treacherous game board.

Schrodinger's Cat Burglar - Abandoned Sheep

Schrodinger's Cat Burglar - Abandoned Sheep

Portal with cats — Puzzle heist with a quantum flavour! Mittens the cat gains the ability to be in two places at once, infiltrating a secret laboratory, solving logic puzzles and evading pest control robots. Science has never been so fun! 

ANGEL - ANTD Interactive

ANGEL - ANTD Interactive

ANGEL imbues breakbeats with networked aesthetics in this rhythm/racing adventure. In a network devastated by digital climate change, what does it mean to be connected? 

Ghost Cam - Arch Rebels

Ghost Cam - Arch Rebels

GHOST CAM is a haunting ghost photography VR, and PC experience where you search for ghosts to capture - but find out what happens if a ghost catches you… 

End of Ember - Bad Plan Studios

End of Ember - Bad Plan Studios

End of Ember is a maximalist Isaac-like: super cute, super gory, and totally unhinged. Join Ember as she is accidentally sent to Hell on her birthday, and face off against weird and gross demons and bosses to try and find out how the Hell you got here.

Lone Pine - Bang Bang Bang Interactive

Lone Pine - Bang Bang Bang Interactive

Lone Pine is a single-player, 2D adventure set in the fictional Lone Pine National Park. You play as Izzie, who has come to Lone Pine to try to photograph some of its mysterious, undiscovered 'cryptids'. 

Cultured Swines - Bimini Board Games

Cultured Swines - Bimini Board Games

Cultured Swines is a strategic party game for 4-8 players. Played in pairs, you and your plus one are budding socialites hoping to make your mark at an exclusive 1960s poolside mixer. Can you out-schmooze your rivals and earn you place among these Cultured Swines?

Bonza Crossword Puzzles - Bonza Puzzles

Bonza Crossword Puzzles - Bonza Puzzles

Bonza Puzzles is a clever innovation, blending wordplay with the satisfying click of jigsaw pieces. Based on the original mobile game, these new physical puzzles bring Bonza’s iconic format to the tabletop. Thoughtful and tactile, they offer a unique challenge for curious minds of all ages.

L8R SK8R - Busalonium

L8R SK8R - Busalonium

L8R SK8R is a retro inspired 3D platformer with a focus on speed. Beat levels as fast as possible and collect the time you beat the record by. Then, use that time to unlock new levels in the hub world.

The INDIGO Initiative - Caustic Reality

The INDIGO Initiative - Caustic Reality

Step into unknown realities in The INDIGO Initiative, a narrative-driven, first-person puzzle adventure. Wield the G.E.A.R. Gun, a prototype device that manipulates fire, water, and electricity—to solve environmental challenges, unravel corporate secrets, and seal rifts threatening to tear apart the fabric of space-time.

Chessplus: Combine & Conquer - Chessplus

Chessplus: Combine & Conquer - Chessplus

Create powerful hybrids like the "Knook" by moving the Knight + Rook onto the same square. Master Chessplus variants in the deckbuilder Roguelike and unleash game-changing items to make the AI blunder, or grind your ELO in Online Multiplayer to become a Chessplus Grandmaster!

Rob & Roll - Devil Juice Studios

Rob & Roll - Devil Juice Studios

Take command of a horde of dice-goblins smuggling coveted relics for a mysterious wizard in this turn-based strategy roguelike inspired by crunchy PC games of the early 2000s! Fight your way across the lands using your dice to unleash powerful abilities and overrun your enemies.

Survival of the Fattest - Dirty Rascal Games

Survival of the Fattest - Dirty Rascal Games

In Survival of the Fattest, you take the role of a cute woodland critter and use unique tricks and abilities to forage for food. Spend your gathered food to complete delicious recipes for in-game bonuses and end-game victory points.

Fantasy Map Maker - Doopy Games

Fantasy Map Maker - Doopy Games

Roll dice, draw features and complete quests as you draw your own fantasy map! Not just a tabletop game, Fantasy Map Maker is an exercise designed to allow players to experience the joy of creating their own world.

Momento - Fat Alien Cat & Nomo Studio

Momento - Fat Alien Cat & Nomo Studio

Momento is a cozy room decorator with a twist: the choices you make play out over the course of a lifetime! Decorate your room, choose which items are important to you, and discover how the objects you choose will alter the course of the story, in a winding ode to the power of everyday things.

BraveCart - Hojo Studio

BraveCart - Hojo Studio

BraveCart is the story of a loyal, but abandoned shopping trolley who defies two empires and sparks a revolution! In a world dominated by AlphaBarn and OmegaMart, the twin supermarket overlords of Duopolis, embark on a quest to save all cart-kind and smash the duopoly!

Your Holy & Virtuous Heretic - i will bite raw coffee beans

Your Holy & Virtuous Heretic - i will bite raw coffee beans

Your Holy & Virtuous Heretic is an atmospheric first-person RPG with occult elements and tense, turn-based combat involving alchemy and sacrifice. It's a darker spin on the monster catching subgenre.

Nonolith - Justcamh

Nonolith - Justcamh

Discover the countless secrets of the NONOLITH. Explore and rearrange the world around you, master hidden powers, and achieve the seemingly impossible. You are very powerful, you just don't know it yet.

Cow Chess - lablab

Cow Chess - lablab

Cow Chess is a real-time artillery party game — think Super Smash Bros meets Worms. It features fluid, wall-sticking movement, punchy weapons, and fully destructible terrain. As the game progresses, you unlock upgrades that transform your abilities, pushing you to adjust your strategies on the fly.

Apothecary of City X - Lemon Jolly Games

Apothecary of City X - Lemon Jolly Games

A melancholic hug in game form - Apothecary of City X invites you into a tenderly bleak world where you run a ramshackle apothecary, forage for rare ingredients in your battered mech, and befriend the delightfully peculiar locals.

NUKO! - Loaded Deck Games

NUKO! - Loaded Deck Games

The end is near! Your bunker isn't ready! 

You have only one chance to survive, and that is to play: NUKO! 

Can you survive the apocalypse?

Spellsided - Mass Transfer Interactive

Spellsided - Mass Transfer Interactive

Spellsided is a dice-builder RPG where every step is a puzzle of your own design. Customise your die with unique spells and upgrades, and cast them with every step to find your way back to the Tabletop. 

MEAN! - Mean Games

MEAN! - Mean Games

Prepare for a whirlwind of hilarious tactics in the all-new party card game, MEAN!, which uniquely blends deck-building and shedding mechanics. Block your rivals, swap hands or unleash the punishing MEAN! cards to keep your opponents on their toes.

THE HELL: CITY BUILDER OF THE DEAD - METROPOLICE SDN BHD

THE HELL: CITY BUILDER OF THE DEAD - METROPOLICE SDN BHD

The HELL: City Builder of the Dead is a dark, soul-management city-building simulation where players take on the role of a Hell Governor. Hence, your task isn’t just building a city, it’s transforming chaos into order in a realm ruled by sin. 

Zodiac Mountain - Mystic Road

Zodiac Mountain - Mystic Road

"Zodiac Mountain" is a roguelike deckbuilder following the journey of a Panda as they adventure to become a Chinese Zodiac. Utilise dual hands of Yin & Yang, encounter mythical characters, outskill your enemies, and climb Zodiac Mountain.

Nationary® Europe English Edition - Nationary Group

Nationary® Europe English Edition - Nationary Group

Nationary® is a game for those who enjoy sharing the love of knowledge.  Perfectly balancing skill & luck, allowing players of all ages, from novice to expert, to create memorable moments together. 

Key Fairy - Owl Machine

Key Fairy - Owl Machine

A hand-drawn, folkloric, pacifist, bullet-hell. Grapple and dance around monsters to collect their shattered stars, weave your way through twisting paths, encounter strange folk, uncover ancient magic, and evade forgotten gods in this frenetic 2D action-adventure.

Fox and Shadow - Paper Cactus Games

Fox and Shadow - Paper Cactus Games

Fox and Shadow is a dual deck building roguelike where the player combats defective AI drones, gutting them for parts to maintain a degrading bunker. Pair a Pilot and a Drone and build a dynamic command deck to scavenge from the ruins of the city above.

MMMMMM: Multi-Merge Mix & Match Minigame Mayhem - PARTYBOMB STUDIO

MMMMMM: Multi-Merge Mix & Match Minigame Mayhem - PARTYBOMB STUDIO

MMMMMM: Multi-Merge Mix & Match Minigame Mayhem is a frantic local and online multiplayer party game for up to 8 players. Run, jump and punch your way through an onslaught of simultaneous microgames as you try to be the last one standing in each of them!

Jupiter Junkworks - Pixel Drake

Jupiter Junkworks - Pixel Drake

Jupiter Junkworks delivers fast-paced arcade puzzle action! Complete contracts to earn resources and rebuild a run-down spaceship junkyard. Dive into a sci-fi narrative campaign where an unlikely trio of travelers must learn to work together. But unknown to them, something awaits beyond the vault.

Armless Samurai - Playmakers Development Team

Armless Samurai - Playmakers Development Team

Go leg to leg with the fast-paced gauntlet of Armless Samurai. Armless Samurai is a fast paced first-person parkour game where you play as a samurai whose limbs have been lost in battle, and robbed from their arsenal. Worry not, however, they haven’t taken your legs yet! And this will be your enemy's greatest mistake…

Pascal's Requiem - Playmakers Development Team

Pascal's Requiem - Playmakers Development Team

"Will you accept your fate, or forge a new destiny?”

The discovery of MANA has revolutionised technology. RoboCorp harnessed its power and abundance to fuel their line of intelligent robots, bringing peace to the world. But everything comes at a price, and the public is yet to learn the cost of progress...

Pro Jank Footy - Powerbomb Games

Pro Jank Footy - Powerbomb Games

From the creative minds behind cult television series Danger 5 and Italian Spiderman, with voice performances from Aunty Donna’s Broden Kelly, comes PRO JANK FOOTY – a sports party roguelite that redefines the rules of Australian Rules Football.

Hot Pot - Quokka Games

Hot Pot - Quokka Games

Hot Pot, also called Steam Boat or 火鍋, brings friends and family together over a simmering feast. Pick your favourite ingredients such as shiitake mushrooms, pork belly, wombok and crabsticks, and toss them into the pot. Keep an eye on what's cooking and scoop them up before anyone else. Wait too long and you might end up with nothing!

Lighthaze World - Radiobush

Lighthaze World - Radiobush

Embark on a heartwarming journey with Nym and their loyal canine companion, Chewy. Start in a peaceful park, but when hunger strikes, the bustling Lighthaze World mall becomes a daunting obstacle. Nym, an anxious hero, must navigate this overwhelming space to find food for Chewy.

Castle Cab - Royal Reign Studios

Castle Cab - Royal Reign Studios

Castle Cab puts you in the horseshoes of a sentient, indestructible horse running a delivery service in a whimsical medieval kingdom. When wizards enlist your help to overthrow a king bent on banning magic, you’ll find yourself at the heart of a revolution that could lead the kingdom down an unpredictable path. 

Nullstar: Solus - Smash Attack Studios

Nullstar: Solus - Smash Attack Studios

Be. Faster. You are a corporate scavenger drone, sent to rip through the decaying corpse of a dying world to salvage its nullstar. Master flight, thrusters, and face ancient guardians and hazards in 80 precision platformer levels set in the ruins of a civilization where all is not as it might seem.

Aussie Bogan Hero - Snag Swag Studios

Aussie Bogan Hero - Snag Swag Studios

G’day mates! In this crackin’ 2D metroidvania, Aussie Bogan Hero sees Davo, a mullet-wearing, beer-loving legend, battle corporate goons and freaky creatures to reopen his pub and save Dusty Springs. 'Cause sometimes, it takes a legend in a singlet to save the day.

Rita - SporkTank

Rita - SporkTank

Rita is a cozy adventure where a little chicklet solves word-based puzzles to transform the world around her. Follow her story across generations, meet her grandchicklet, and be a part of her legacy.

Grove Keeper - Steep Summit Studios

Grove Keeper - Steep Summit Studios

Grove Keeper takes you to an ancient, enchanted world inspired by Norse and Slavic mythology. You play the role of a Forest Diety protecting your Grove against an onslaught of loggers and poachers.

Tingus Goose - SweatyChair

Tingus Goose - SweatyChair

Tingus Goose is a weird and surprising idle/incremental game where you grow a long-necked goose by watering, feeding, and unlocking absurd upgrades. Packed with surreal humour, bizarre animations, and unpredictable goose impregnation, it offers a fresh spin on the genre — designed to surprise, confuse, and delight.

Bits & Bops - Tempo Lab Games

Bits & Bops - Tempo Lab Games

Bits & Bops is a collection of original rhythm mini-games! Filled with catchy music, snappy gameplay and gorgeous, hand-drawn animation, Bits & Bops is sure to brighten your day.

ShatterRush - Tetra Studios

ShatterRush - Tetra Studios

ShatterRush is a multiplayer FPS where fluid parkour movement and massive mechs meet fully destructible environments to create flow-state movement combat you’ve been waiting 8 years for.

My Arms Are Longer Now - Toot Games

My Arms Are Longer Now - Toot Games

You are a yucky long-armed thief. Snake through levels, retract like a vacuum cord, or put on a sock to seduce a lonely guard - whatever it takes to pull off the perfect heist!

War of Salvation - Total Game Development

War of Salvation - Total Game Development

War of Salvation is a real-time strategy game currently in early development, focused on the early operations of a military and scientific organisation navigating the uncertainties of a climate-transformed world.

Enfant - Zebrar

Enfant - Zebrar

Enfant is a third person exploration adventure set in a post-human world reclaimed by nature. You play as an enlightened elephant on a journey to find your lost herd, navigating the ruins of a forgotten civilization now inhabited by intelligent animal societies. 

Zero Point Survivor - Zero Point Games

Zero Point Survivor - Zero Point Games

Collect up to 21 unique weapons and wreck machines, kill space squids and blast asteroids into bits. Gather valuable gold and spend it for upgrades and new ships as you venture deeper into the depths of space, to the Point of No Return.

Odd Jobs: On The Lot - One Up Plus

Odd Jobs: On The Lot - One Up Plus

A physics-powered, four-player co-op simulation set in a vibrant Australian carpark. Teammates race to complete a rotating roster of odd jobs. Collect stray trolleys, unload delivery trucks, blast grime with a high-pressure water truck, or deliver groceries directly to customers’ boot.

Tank Society - Bradley Lin

Tank Society - Bradley Lin

A top-down arcade-inspired 2.5D ricochet tank shooter where you battle for liberty through a dystopian world!