Play the future of Aussie games from the RMIT Design Grad Show 2024

If you’re passionate about games or simply curious about what’s next in the industry, the RMIT Design Grad Show 2024 was an event you didn’t want to miss! This year’s showcase featured a stellar lineup of games developed by the latest graduates, each one a testament to innovation, storytelling, and creativity. Students proudly presented projects they’ve dedicated their time, skills, and passion over the past year. We were thrilled to return to the event for the first time since 2019.

The opening night on 14 November was buzzing with excitement as crowds filled RMIT Melbourne’s Building 12. Guests had the chance to try out demos, interact with developers, and gain insights into the creative process behind the games. The evening culminated in the highly anticipated Game Awards where exceptional achievements in creativity, design, and storytelling were recognised.

RMIT Game Design Showcase 2024

These games represent countless hours of work, passion, and ingenuity of the game design students. Whether you’re into action-packed adventures, heartwarming co-op games, or brainteasing puzzles, there’s something in the lineup for everyone. Most of these games are also available to play for free, so please click through to try them out for yourself and follow the devs.

• Alchemeow: Physics-based couch co-op game where players brew potions as cats, relying on coordination to use the entire room as a play space.
  • Developers: Tania Rasul, Elaizo Tan, Gianluca Nazare, Max Jin, Kim Scott.
• B.S.F. Complex: Gift-giving game set in a high-rise, where players steal trash and interact with eccentric residents sharing surreal stories.
  • Developers: Bora Erdogan, Sinead Garry, Fentine.
• CODE: OUROBOROUS: A lite CRPG set in a dystopian future, where players control protagonist Jin, who must use unique abilities to uncover truths while navigating deception.
  • Developers: Yihan Zheng, Xiaoxuan Fan, Ye Ma, Fan Liu.
• Dazza’s Board: 3D platformer where players explore Tasmania-inspired environments as Dazza the Tasmanian Devil, helping animals and collecting items.
  • Developers: Patrick Pham, Luke Ming Kong, Jerry Yeh, Liam Bradbury.
• Deadlines: Psychological horror game exploring themes of guilt and nostalgia as players navigate Redwood High to piece together memories.
  • Developers: Andy Eng, Charisse Joy Coquilla, Damien Di Gregorio, Drsika Koppla, Hannah Abrahamian
• Endless Escape: Puzzle-solving VR horror game where players solve rooms to survive, with a narrative that reveals the protagonist’s past.
  • Developers: Jeremi Mandajos, Khoa Dang Pham, Kevin Dam, Connor Wang, Cory Li.
• Frankenstein For Hire: A visual novel and body assembly game where players control investigator Chase Close and contractor Echo to piece together dismantled bodies and resurrect witnesses. Each limb reveals part of a story, helping to uncover a marine biology mystery.
  • Developers: Lawrence Tang, Jun Yao Lim, Coda Faoro, Ean Blacker.
• Gaseous: Combines card game elements with RTS gameplay, where players control a flagship, summoning fleets and customizing playstyle. Balances deck-building with real-time battlefield strategy.
  • Developers: Yanzeqin Qiao, Yuteng Li. Special Thanks: Tan91.
• Moka and Mocha: A nostalgic, cooperative rogue-like action game set in an enchanted convenience store. Players control Moka the Samoyed and Mocha the tabby cat as they battle magical everyday items in a Y2K-inspired world.
  • Developers: Jiyuan Yi, Zhicheng Yang, Le Yang, Xiaofei Mo, Yiwen Lin.
• Musee: Players explore a vibrant world of paintings, travelling between different worlds in a living museum. The game invites players to discover elements of themselves through artistic and surreal adventures.
  • Developers: Michael Chen, Rowell Cristoria, Emils Drulle, Alanna Xie, Dongming Yang.
• Paws & Laws: A narrative-driven mystery set in 1950s France, where players, along with their animal companions, uncover secrets in a detective agency.
  • Developers: Jennifer Chislett, James McCallum, Grace Di’leo, Sin Tsing Berva Chong, William Frew.
• Paws Off: A pixel-style 2D platform puzzle game where players, as a curious corgi, explore a kingdom and uncover secrets through knowledge-gating mechanics.
  • Developers: Liang Zhang, 2D Art by Nemuru.
• Playing God: A matchmaking/dating simulation set on the island of Crystal River, where players work to unite two souls destined to be together, with story-rich, character-driven gameplay.
  • Developers: Emma Bankier, Cat Jahne.
• Runner: Action-adventure game blending third-person exploration and first-person action, as a scavenger navigates an ancient megaship with a robot companion.
  • Developers: Drew Corbin, Raaid Rambukwelle, Lily Bettes, Nuyara Wickrema Arachchi, Joseph Walker, Ai-tien Dinh.
• Sepulchre: Horror exploration game where players, as an archaeologist, navigate French catacombs while searching for a friend and evading mysterious dangers.
  • Developers: Andre Van Zyl, Connor Stewart, Dat Tran, Gwyneth Moralde, Luca Bellofiore, Shiyao Li.
• Spaceport 925: Point-and-click game set on an intergalactic space station where players serve as a customs official, managing alien entrants’ destinations.
  • Developers: Ayse Ötkün, Felis Ngo, Jacqueline Notley-Rumbens, Tristan de Soya.
• Stellar: Adventure game following Stella and a talkative star through a dark world to uncover their past while fighting monsters and illuminating altars.
  • Developers: James Semenov, Safa Brooks, Emil Patten, Joseph Frampton, Dylan Fastuca, Manu Padmaraagam
• The Last Hope: 3D platforming with 2D pop-up art in a rogue-like experience. The game explores light interactions and 2D animations in a 3D world, challenging the team to develop unique rogue-like ARPG mechanics and bring their first project to life.
  • Yao Hu, Yifan Zhu (Black), Yiran Zhu (Ian), Shang Wang.
• Time To Go Home: Narrative-driven experience exploring childhood imagination as Kipp spends after-school hours wandering and reflecting.
  • Developers: Jimmy Lin, Leigh Smith, Marvie Marin.
• Venari: Movement-combat game where players, as a centaur mercenary, fight worshipers of a giant snake, influenced by music-driven gameplay elements.
  • Developers: Ben DeLorenzo, Noemi Grigorean-Pajak, Luca Capacchione, Will Parkin, Aidan Ziccone, Corben Leong.
• Wattle Creek: Nostalgic narrative game where Skye says goodbye to her hometown, reminiscing on memories with townsfolk and her best friend.
  • Developers: Ash Miron, Ben Hunter, Nora Wang, Lily Pyke.

MAGI Banquet of Oddities 2024

The Master of Animation, Games and Interactivity (MAGI) students presented the Banquet of Oddities Expo 2024. This exhibition included projects from a wide range of disciplines, but we’ve collated the outstanding games presented by these students. Check them all out, most with free downloads so you can play for yourself.

• Agent Shadow: Play an agent named “Shadow”. The player will accept a mission from the superior “Ghost”: sneak into a secret base for investigation.
  • Developer: Haoduo Zhuang (Alex).
• AURORA SEEKER: An online hovercraft PVP party game! Need some practice before really get into it!
  • Developer: Harvey He.
• Blood Legacy: The city of Hazvil teeters on the edge of ruin. Demons have infiltrated its streets, and only three powerful sisters stand between survival and chaos.
  • Developer: Josephine “Jessy” Putri.
• Cyberpedia: A fictional 90s CD-Rom game,  explore a museum of exhibits generated by the internet, work with Bookworth the museum assistant to restore lost information.
  • Developers: Chris Erickson and Callum Tham.
• Dance Dance Deception: Goofy dance / social simulator game featuring cursed ravers in a reality tv dance competition “Rumble at the Rave”.
  • Developer: Lou Fourie.
• Detective Agency: A playful but demanding puzzle game, designed to stretch players’ minds and keep them intrigued.
  • Developer: Junhe Hu.
• Digital Three Kingdoms: Combined with historical records and archaeological evidence to reconstruct the history of Three Kingdom period in Chinese history.
  • Developer: Shuaipeng Wu.
• Echo Island: A cozy building game where you can create the ambient sound you desire by placing different landscape components and build a scene that matches it.
  • Developer: Xuange Sun.
• Enjoy A Treat: An experimental 3D local co op party game that uses face tracking technology to create a fun and unique gameplay experience.
  • Developer: Bo-Rui Lin.
• For Your Own Good: A psychological adventure game that delves into the struggles of escaping oppressive familial expectations.
  • Developer: Siwei Luo.
• Hazardous: Four-player party game where players navigate around a constantly changing environment, surviving disaster events like falling meteors, to earn points in areas called “zones” that randomly appear.
  • Developer: Katrin Kalaw.
• Head Trip: A boy looking for his memories in a mysterious place. In the five stages, he will encounter various ‘people’ and face the truth.
  • Developer: Luyi Qian.
• I’m Toby: Play as Toby, an amnesiac, navigating through a surreal dimension. Utilize gravity to overcome a series of challenges and embark on a journey to uncover your true identity.
  • Developer: Wenhao Li.
• Inkbound Imagination: 2D action game where players control character movement via the keyboard, while different attack moves are created by drawing various lines.
  • Developer: Hongjie She.
• KARMA: 2D folklore horror game that combines narrative and puzzle elements.
  • Developer: Yue Cao.
• Little Bit Of Gore: First-person survival horror game where you play as a little mushroom, who has just sprouted and woken up to a world drowned in gore and chaos.
  • Developer: Matthew Ganther.
• Muse: An interactive narrative game that uses deduction-based gameplay to deliver its story through subtext offered within its dialogue, mechanics, visual, and audio design.
  • Developer: Lexi Karpathios.
• Musician: A tambourine music simulator app that lets you mix tambourine sounds with fun human reactions like cheers and boos to create unique beats.
  • Developer: Ka Kei (Kora) Lee.
• OKIRO: Take on the perspective of a plant sprite, Lulu, who searches for traces of human civilization and explores the story within the ruins of a factory.
  • Developers: Songya Xu, Ziya Gao.
• Ormlings Rising: Turn based strategy game, designed to pit the wits of two players in creature warfare.
  • Developer: Linn Htut Oo.
• Packed Away: Explores the final day of a dementia patient in her home before moving to a care facility.
  • Developer: Sarthak Sthapit.
• Petal’s Rise Against the Abyss: Engage in dialogue with multiple NPCs to acquire story content and background, gaining a deeper understanding of Lan’s journey to save her father.
  • Developer: Xinyi Huang.
• Reflections of Atheria: Innovative two-player adventure where one player navigates the world upright while the other journeys upside down.
  • Developer: Sharmishtha Sen.
• Sea Blindness: 2D side-scroller where Jimmy, a member of a deep-sea research team, becomes entangled in a strange incident and realizes he is in a game world.
  • Developer: Pengyu Jiang.
• SkyHound: Promoting social unfamiliarity and playful interactions which aims to create an environment where players can reconnect with the joy of their younger selves.
  • Developer: Sarthak Sthapit.
• The Worms Memoirs: Point-and-click narrative game about childhood trauma and what lies beyond it.
  • Developer: Yujie Zhang.
• Time Rift: An archaeological exploration game that challenges players to navigate an ancient temple filled with intricate puzzles and hidden artifacts.
  • Developer: Hari Prasath.
• VT_IV: Focused on the researched procedural workflow which can be used to create a naturalized AAA open world navigable map as demonstration.
  • Developer: Tina Yao.
• Wrapped in Plastic: Narrative prototype created using the unity engine involving a conversation between the player character referenced as ‘Him’ and a girl that the player is told will be murdered later that night referenced as ‘Her’.
  • Developer: Murphy Doyle.
• You’re At A Party: An interactive fiction game that explores the complexities of queer relationships. Unfolding over one night, at a house party in a suburban share-house, the player comes face to face with their ex and his new partner and has to navigate the tense, awkward situations that arise afterwards.
  • Developer: Eamonn Harte.