PAX Australia is fast approaching, and with only a few short months to go as 2023 continues to fly past us. With that, the announcement of Indie showcase and tabletop winners have been announced, with an exciting array of stories, characters and Boba Tea. The games will be fully interactive at the event, with the developers on hand to give you the rundown of their upcoming titles.
Below are the four winners of the PAX Indie Rising Tabletop games :
Boba Master
Queensland-based Quokka Games celebrates the team’s love of bubble tea. Boba Master is an engaging card game about making bubble tea. It’s full of action, easy to pick up and gets popping very quickly. You can steal ingredients from your opponents and force them to make mistakes to give you an advantage. Stir up the game by swapping hands or even swapping bubble teas. Be the first to complete your bubble teas and become the Boba Master! BYO paper straws.
Alien Frenzy
From Victorian developers Comet Squid – a brother duo of Jye and Baden Stone based in Melbourne, comes their first foray is a card game about an alien invasion. Players are in charge of recruiting a team of crazy characters to help them fend off various aliens as they wander the Earth creating havoc. Baden commented on being selected by saying, “For a small indie designer, it means everything. PAX is an incredible celebration of creativity, innovation, and passion in the gaming world. To be part of that is truly an honour, and we are extremely excited.”
Kingless: Festival of Explosions
From Tasmania’s Two19, comes Kingless, which has players on a quest to gain the most influence so that they can become King. The player with the lowest influence will be labelled ‘the fool.’ Players need to recruit 38 unique dwarf characters to help them to take the crown. It’s fun, it’s outrageous and we cannot wait to see who has to perform the fool’s dance this year!
Saltfish & Almanacs
From NSW’s Storybrewers Roleplaying, the creators behind Good Society: A Jane Austen RPG, comes their newest title, in which a merchant company goes on their yearly journey through familiar and new places, meeting fellow adventurers and merchants.
It was also announced the six winners of the Indie Showcase for digital games are :
Copycat
From NSW studio Spoonful of Wonder comes a beautiful, narrative game about rejection, belonging and the meaning of home. The game sees a newly-adopted shelter cat become the victim of an elaborate plan when a jealous, stray copycat steals her place in the house. The game follows our heroine cat as she searches for a real family and cherishes the human-pet bond.
The Dungeon Experience Game
This game from Bone Assembly sees a hilarious (and handsome and symmetrical), mud-crab turned entrepreneur play the role of Dungeon Master in this first-person quest. Players are taken on a guided tour by their crabby Dungeon Master, where they get to meet the various dungeon inhabitants. Weird and hilarious, this game will have players gripped by the game and by the giggles.
The Drifter
From Victoria’s Powerhoof, The Drifter is described as a pulp adventure thriller that sees protagonist Mick Carter witnesses a violent murder, pursued by mysterious men and killed. And that is only the beginning of Mick’s problems. Visit the Indie Showcase to play the game and discover the dark twists and turns that follow Mick’s murder.
Crash Course Builder by Wombat Brawler
Yet another winner from Victoria, Crash Course Builder by Wombat Brawler is a crazy rhythm racer that sees players able to fast twitch race their way through unique and wonderful different courses as well as being able to build and share their own courses with other players on the platform. It has a Fall Guys aesthetic with some intense neon colours on display.
Primordials Legends: Hollow Hero by Vic-based Toybox Game Studios
This short series game features fantastical creatures living in the fantasy world of Eridol. Hollow Hero tells the tale of Brunt, Oak-Hide, an anthropomorphic wombat, who journeys into unknown lands to save her people. This legend is narrated by “Eldar”, Leader of the Dreg and Brunt’s adoptive father. Eldar is an ancient lore keeper who holds a wealth of knowledge in Eridalian history. This epic, Lord of the Rings-esque storytelling game features exceptional graphics that transport the player into another world.
darkwebSTREAMER by South Australian developers We Have Always Lived in a Forest captures the stress of live-streaming, only made more stressful with ominous occult distractions.
It looks to be a wealth of fantastic titles from local developers across Australia, offering unique experiences from rising voices in the gaming industry. While there is always a plethora of things to do at PAX Australia, having a full 3 days to immerse ourselves in the wealth of these titles cannot come quickly enough.
If you are still needing tickets, they are selling out fast! You can grab them via the official PAX website here
